Class 3 ) ^"lQ7 - 

Bo *— Ipo 

Copyright^ : 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: 



I 



Lands of Sacred Story. 



Lands of Sacred Story. 

SKETCHES OF TRAVEL 

And Personal Experiences which appeared 
in The Christian Union during 

1908-1909. 



BY JAMES T. NICHOLS, 

Editor Christian Union. 



Introduction by 

CHARLES S. MED'B'URY. 



DES MOINES, iOWA 
THE CHRISTIAN UNION PRESS 
1910 



Copyright 1910 by 
JAMES T. NICHOLS. 



(§; Gi. A 2 5 6 & 5 6 



INTRODUCTION. 



It is a pleasure to introduce a man one loves, to 
speak upon a theme of sacred interest. The very 
introduction gives one a sort of fellowship with 
the message that is borne to the people, and he 
feels a selfish joy in the good that is done. Such 
is the feeling of the writer of these lines as he 
speaks to the public of James T. Nichols and the 
new book, "The Lands of Sacred Story." Mr. 
Nichols as editor of the Christian Union, has 
proven himself a writer of rare power. God has 
given him the ability to say much in little space. 
His editorials have taken rank as among the very 
best things that have been said for our people's 

distinctive work and in the advocacy of the gen- 
eral advance movement of the religious world. 
Many of us have felt that his writings should have 
a far wider field than that afforded by a State, 
paper, even if the latter be of exceptional value 
and of large circulation/ But when this man of 
God turns to the narrative of his own travels in 
the land made sacred by the ministry of Jesus, he 
is at his best. Of reverent faith and discerning 

judgment, he enters so sympathetically into the 
narrative that one feels the story of the land even 
as he sees the land declare it. 

It is to be noted, too, that the writer of this 
book had exceptional opportunities in his journey 
through the countries of the East. He did not 
go with a cruise party with fixed schedule and 



Xll. 



trying limits of time. Mr. Nichols traveled in- 
dependently and much of the time alone. He tar- 
ried at his pleasure, at points in the journey that 
impressed him deeply, and was able thus to absorb 
the rich things the trip affords for the life of 
meditation and the heart of deep feeling. More 
than that, by reason of his traveling in the way 
he did, he had experiences wholly unusual — some- 
times humorous, sometimes perilous. These he 
has sketched in the work before us in a way to 
quicken interest greatly. 

As a last word let me commend this book not 
only to travelers themselves, who will delight to 
refresh their minds by this interesting study, but 
let me even more especially commend it to men 
and women, young and old, who feel that they 
may never have the privilege of foreign travel. I 
believe Mr. Nichols will prove to such, a guide in 
sacred pathways who will be a blessing indeed. 
He will make real the lands of the Bible. He will 
make the incidents of the long ago live. He will 
bring face to face with the Lord. He will answer 
questions and quiet doubts. He will broaden the 
horizon and deepen the faith of his readers. I 
could wish that thousands of young people might 
follow this devoted servant of the Lord in his 
happy, helpful journeyings through 'The Lands 
of Sacred Story/' 

Chas. S. Medbury.. 



INDEX TO CHAPTERS. 



Introduction 

CHAPTER I. 

Glimpses of Life on an Ocean Steamship 

A Floating Palace — Coal Supply — In the Re- 
frigerator — With the Stokers — Life Boats — Five 
Meals a Day — A Storm at Sea — "Thank the Lord 
they are Swearing yet" — Trouble with Steerage 
Passengers — Wireless Telegraphy. 

CHAPTER II. 

Montreal to London 

Agreeable Companions — The Emerald Isle — 
Giants Causeway — Liverpool — English Trains- — 
A Fast Ride. 

CHAPTER III. 

Rambles Through London 

A World in itself — St. Paul's Cathedral with its 
Whispering Gallery — Westminster Abbey — Horn- 
sey Tabernacle — Spurgeon's Tabernacle — Wesley's 
Chapel — A Jewish Synagogue — Royal Albert Hall 
— The Monument — The Black Death. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Rambles Through London (Continued) 

The Gunpowder Plot — The tower — Dr. Barn- 
ardo's Homes — British Museum — The Royal 
Mint. 

CHAPTER V. 

Rambles Through London (Continued) *. 

Alone and Lost — A few incidents — The Royal 
Exchange — Soan's Museum — Madam Tussand's 
Wax Works— The National Galler}-— London's 
Greatest Curse — In the Slums at Midnight. 



XIV. 



CHAPTER VI. 



In the Shadow of Mt. Vesuvius 67 

Landing at Naples — An Italian Guide — Tomb of 
Virgil. 

CHAPTER VII. 

In the Track of an Apostle 73 

On an Italian Ship — The City that was doomed 
— Halting at Syracuse — Malta — Paul's Three 
Months at Malta. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Front Door of Egypt 82 

Alexandria — Pompey's Pillar — Hypatia — Alex- 
andrianean Library. 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Playground of Moses 85 

Cairo — City of Antiquity — Yankee Doodle — The 
Pyramids — The Sphynx. 

CHAPTER X. 

Egypt to Syria 98 

Quarantined — Beyrout — Visiting the Asylum. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Damascus 103 

Over the Mountains of Lebanon — The Immortal 
City— The Old Wall—Baalbek— The Great Stone 
— Noah's Ark — The Mountaineers. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Beyrout to Nazareth no 

Tyre — Haifa — On to Nazareth. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Home of the Carpenter 117 

The Food Problem — Fined — Joseph's Work- 
shop — A Divided Church — A Wonderful View. 



XV. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Across the World's Greatest Battlefield 126 

Endor — Nain — Shunem — It is Well — Jezreel- — 
Jezebel gets the Vineyard — Naboth Condemned — 



Jezebel's Death. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Jenin to Jerusalem 136 

Hill of Samaria— -Nablous — Jacob's Well — Plain 
of Shiloh. 

CHAPTER XVI. 
City of the Great King 142 



David Sinned — Angel with a Drawn Sword — • 
Mount Calvary — In the Tomb — Into the City — 
Jews' Wailing Place — Cleaning up the City — The 



Sorrowful Way. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Temple of Solomon 1 34 

The Great Rock — Permission to Enter — Some 
Traditions. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Quite an Experience 159 

Disguised — Disappointed. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Rebuilding the Temple 166 



The King's Offer — Power of Wine — Power of 
Kings — Power of Women — Power of Truth — Per- 



mission from the King. 

CHAPTER XX. 

The Gates of the City 174 

Jaffa Gate — Zion's Gate — Gulden Gate. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Around the City of Jerusalem 177 



Down the Valley of Hinnom — Up Valley of 
Jehosaphat — Mount of Olives — Tomb of Lazarus 
— Tombs of the Kings. 



xvi. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Siege of Jerusalem 185 

General Vespasian — Building Breast Works — 
Terrible Suffering — Silence of Death. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

On the Way to Bethlehem 192 

Crowds of People — When Elijah Slept. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Homeward Bound 196 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Athens . . . '. 199 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Rome. 201 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



17 



CHAPTER I. 



GLIMPSES OF LIFE ON AN OCEAN STEAM- 



MODERN ocean steamship is a floating pal- 



*»> ace. To get an idea of the size one must 
imagine a great building eight or nine 
stories high and seven hundred feet long. A ship 
like the Oceanic of the White Star Line (several 
are larger) has an ordinary population of 2,000. 
It takes 500 men to run the ship. 

On land the steel frame contains material 
enough to frame all the homes in a city of 3,000 
people. Her bunkers would supply coal for such 
a city for two years. The above named ship has 
96 furnaces and burns 12,000 bushels of coal 
every day. It takes 50 gallons of oil each day to 
keep the machinery running smoothly. The elec- 
tric plant would furnish light for a city of 3,000, 
and her engines would run machinery enough to 
keep all employed. The six blades in the pro- 
pellers of this ship are made of the best bronze 
and cost $6,000.00 each— $36,000.00 in all. 

A look into the refrigerators is a relevation to 
the ordinary traveler. For one voyage the 
Oceanic carries 31,000 pounds fresh meat; 2,000 
chickens and ducks; 50,000 pounds of potatoes; 
150 barrels of flour ; 6,000 pounds ham and bacon ; 
10,000 eggs ; 6,400 pounds sugar and other things 
in proportion. 



SHIP. 




18 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



Every good ship has an up to date public li- 
brary. Many of the passengers read a great deal. 

Games of various kinds are indulged in by the 
passengers. Throwing quoits is quite popular. 
Many play cards. Some gamble. Checkers suit 
a certain class. The smoking rooms are well 
patronized by the men and writing rooms by the 
ladies. When not too cold hundreds swarm the. 
decks all day long and often far into the night. 

There are always musicians on board ship and 
the pianos are generally busy. Entertainments 
are gotten up occasionally. We crossed the ocean 
with the "Hungarian Parliament" on one occa- 
sion and they had lively times. On several occa- 
sions we have gotten acquainted with some of the 
stewarts and officers who give us the inside of sea 
faring life. 

It is interesting to go down to the furnaces and 
get a glimpse of the stokers. They have a hard 
life. Every man has to work like a beaver. To 
go along the main steel shaft for a hundred feet 
and note the thoughtfulness of the builders would 
almost interest a wooden man. They have pre- 
pared for almost every imaginable accident and 
emergency. If the great shaft were to break they 
have gigantic clamps which could be fastened in 
an hour or two so the ship could proceed as if 
nothing had happened. 

A ship is supposed to carry lifeboats sufficient 
to accommodate all the passengers. These boats 
are ready with food for several days packed 
in them all the time. The ships are constructed 



LANDS OP SACRED STORY. 



19 



with a false bottom and water tight compart- 
ments so if they should strike a rock which would 
go through the bottom the ship would not sink. 

On an ocean steamship people who are well 
generally eat five meals each day. In most cases 
they have nearly everything imaginable to eat. 
We will never forget our Sunday dinner. We 
had among other things "roast duck." It was 
well cooked but not well picked. An Irishman 
stood on deck leaning over the railing "feeding 
the fishes." The captain saw him and wanted to 
sympathize with him and said, "Pat, I notice you 
have a weak stomach." As soon as he could get 
his breath Pat said, "Faith sir, you are wrong. 
I am throwing it farther than any man on the 
ship." 

We were overtaken by a storm. It was an 
awful sight. Port holes were all closed and 
passengers warned to stay indoors. One man 
ventured out and lost his hat and soon came back 
wet as a drowned rat. The waves are almost 
mountain high when the sea is very rough. One 
moment the prow will be pointing towards the 
clouds and the next moment the propellers are 
out of the water, the ship trembling like a leaf 
and looks as though it were going to the bottom 
of the sea. 

Many stories are told about frightened passen- 
gers and how they act. One old minister, it is 
said, went to the captain and asked if he thought 
they would ever reach land again. Of course the 
captain laughed and told him there was no dan- 



20 



LANDS OP SACRED STORY, 



ger. In an hour or two the old minister appeared 
before the captain once more nearly frightened 
to death. The captain assured him they were in 
no danger and finally asked the minister to look 
down an opening and listen, when he heard the 
sailors swearing. Now said the captain, "As long 
as you hear these fellows swearing there is no 
danger, but if they go to praying you may be 
alarmed." About midnight the old minister went 
on deck once more and listened until he could 
hear the sailors when he exclaimed, "Thank the 
Lord, they are swearing yet." 

Navigators have maps of the ocean as geo- 
graphers have maps of the land. If there is a 
rock, or a dangerous place the maps show it. If a 
derelict is sighted the captain must take his bear- 
ings and report it as soon as he touches land. One 
of the most exciting times we ever saw was one 
day when a water logged, abandoned vessel was 
sighted. We did not know until it was searched, 
how many dead persons were upon this floating 
derelict. 

At noon every day the officers take their bear- 
ings and in a few moments there is posted at the 
entrance of the saloons the chart showing the ex- 
act location of the ship, the number of miles 
traveled during the last twenty-four hours, etc. 

One day the steerage passengers became a regu- 
lar mob and threatened to kill the officers of the 
ship and run it to their liking. Some of us were 
a little alarmed too and we asked one of the chief 
officers what would be the result if these people 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



21 



undertook to carry out their threats. At once 
the officer showed us little coils of rubber hose 
which had been placed ready for use. He said, 
"let them try it. In a moment we will have these 
hose coupled and throwing boiling water in their 
faces." 

On one occasion one giant had run all the sail- 
ors out of a large room and with a big knife in 
one hand, a revolver in the other, defied any 
man to come into the room. Immediately the 
captain was sent for. He was a large man and 
was not afraid of anything on earth. Many ex- 
pected that he would be killed by the ruffian. 
Opening the door the fearless captain sprang into 
the room and in less time than it takes to write 
these lines the boasting "Goliath" was disarmed 
and placed in chains and imprisoned and lived 
on bread and water during the remaining part of 
the voyage. 

Wireless telegraphy is about the greatest in- 
vention of the age. We have stood on the upper 
deck at the office for hours watching the delicate 
instruments receiving messages from some un- 
seen ship a hundred or more miles distant. We 
had a great race which lasted three days and 
which was the talk of all on board and yet we 
never saw the ship. The whole race was as in- 
teresting as though the two ships were ploughing 
the water side by side. 



22 LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER II. 
MONTREAL TO LONDON. 

THE TRIP from Montreal to Liverpool was 
made on a ship twenty-seven years old. She 
is now in the bottom of the sea. As it was early in 
July the captain decided to go through Belle Isle 
Straits. As we approached the straits great ice- 
bergs almost blocked the channel. Slowly the 
great ship began to turn around. Our captain 
had decided it was too dangerous to try to miss all 
the bergs. All were disappointed because it meant 
at least two days longer on the ship to go around 
Newfoundland. One young man cried as though 
his heart would break. It developed that the rea- 
son he took it so hard was the fact that he was 
to be married in England on a certain day and 
would miss the wedding. 

On this trip our companion was a Methodist 
preacher, Rev. R. I. Hoskings of Friedland, Can- 
ada. We had good times together. On Sunday 
we had divine services. The author preached at 
the morning service. The sea was so rough that 
we had to hold to an iron post with one hand. 
On Saturday evening we went down among the 
steerage passengers and invited them to the serv- 
ices the next day. They were so pleased over it 
that they entertained us with songs and speeches 
for an hour. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



23 



On the morning of July 11, all was excitement 
on board ship. For twelve long days we had 
been on the sea and the cry "Land" made every 
one happy. We will never forget our first view of 
"The Emerald Isle" as we went around the north- 
em coast toward Moville. The lighthouse, the 
high cliff, the green fields, the white cottages and 
the beautiful scenery comes before us as we write 
these lines like a grand panorama. 

Yonder are the ruins of an old castle. It must 
have been the home of some chief for its ruins 
are extensive. Now the pilot comes on board to 
take us safely to the city of Moville. Boats come 
out as soon as our ship is anchored to take the 
mail and passengers who wish to go ashore. 

On to Liverpool we are now going. To our 
right is the "Giant's Causeway." According to 
the legend, in days long gone by England and Ire- 
land were connected with each other by a narrow 
strip of land and a tunnel beneath through which 
the giants used to pass. The giants were contin- 
ually at war with each other and finally a portion 
of this highway was destroyed and the points of 
land on each side are now called "The Giants 
Causeway." 

The "Giant's Organ" is a group of great col- 
umns of stone so arranged that they have been 
given this name. The cliffs are sixty feet high in 
some places and the irregular hexagon shaped, 
close-fitting stone pillars are wonderful indeed. 
The ruins of several castles are on the crags high 
above the sea and in one place there is a swing- 



24 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



ing bridge spanning a chasm eighty feet deep. 

We get only a glimpse of the city of Belfast. 
Here are located the largest ship yards in the 
world. To the left the Isle of Man is to be seen. 
The sea is as smooth as glass. Not a ripple any- 
where. It was difficult to leave the deck that July 
evening. At 5 o'clock in the morning nearly ev- 
ery passenger was on deck. The city of Birken- 
head was on the right. Scores of great ships were 
in sight. The great anchors were cast into the 
sea and in a short time the "red tape" officers had 
been satisfied and we were ready to land in the 
city of Liverpool. 

Getting through the custom house at Liverpool 
is not a difficult job. Some act sneaking and do 
not want to open their baggage. Of course these 
are the ones who suffer most. If one is frank and 
open and has baggage all ready they have no 
trouble at all. The officers are kind and cour- 
teous. , 

Liverpool was once a little fishing village, situ- 
ated in a marsh. It takes its name from one of 
the ponds or pools which owing to the great num- 
ber of "liver" birds about it continually, was 
called "liver-pool." Now it is a great city with 
miles and miles of docks and quays. We went up 
along the docks for several miles on the electric 
railway. , 

Soon we were on a special train bound for Lon- 
don. This journey was the fastest ride we ever 
had up to that date. The distance, the way we 
went is 219 miles and we made it in 240 minutes. 



LANDS OP SACKED STORY. 



25 



We ran 200 miles without a stop. The engine 
takes water while running a mile a minute. There 
is a little trough filled with water in the center 
of the track at intervals and a device scoops it up 
until the tank is full. , 

The engine has no cab. The engineer and fire- 
man have to stand up. We asked one of them 
what they did when it rained and quick as a flash 
he replied, "We get wet, sir." The railroad com- 
pany furnishes rubber coats, however. Wages 
are not half as high as in the United States. We 
understand that the new engines there now have 
cabs something like those in our own country., 

The coaches are very different from those in 
our country. The doors are in the sides of the 
cars. Each apartment has but two seats and half 
the passengers must ride backwards as they sit 
facing each other. The doors are locked so no 
one can get out. At the time we were there the 
coaches had no watertank or closet, but we are 
told the cars have been much improved lately. 

The ticket-taker does not go with the train, but 
remains at the station. Baggage is not checked 
— each one must look after their own and see that 
it is placed on the train. There are no diners, but 
the railroad furnishes baskets with enough in 
each one for two persons and charge 50 cents per 
basket. Baskets are left in the train and collected 
at the end of the run. 

The ride from Liverpool to London is one of 
the finest imaginable. How we did enjoy it after 
spending two weeks on the sea. The birds sang 



2® LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 

sweeter, the sun shone brighter and the grass 
looked greener than ever before. Now for many 
weeks we will "Ramble through London." 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



27 



CHAPTER III. 
RAMBLES THROUGH LONDON. 

THE CITY of London is a world in itself. It 
contains more Irish than Dublin more 
Catholics than Rome and more Jews than Pales- 
tine. It has a greater population than Chicago, 
Milwaukee, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Omaha, Kan- 
sas City, Denver, Salt Lake City and San Fran- 
cisco combined. It has more people than Iowa, 
North and South Dakota, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, 
Wyoming, Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico. 

There are 120,000 people in London who have 
no homes; 60,000 sleep on the Thames embank- 
ment almost every night. In one respect London 
is like heaven for there is no night there. The 
busiest time in the day in "butchers' row" it is 
said, is at 3 o'clock in the morning. The writer 
was in the slums in the White Chapel district, the 
famous East End, after midnight, and there 
jseemed to be no decrease in the throng of people 
at that late hour. 

Now we wish to make these articles practical 
so we will just tell you where we stopped and how 
it was arranged. Before leaving home we wrote 
tp Brother William Durban, whose articles have 
appeared in the Christian Evangelist for many 
years, and asked that he refer us to some mem- 
ber of the church who would furnish lodging and 



28 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



breakfast. He kindly referred us to Bro. Fred 
Paige, who lived on Melrose avenue, Woodgreen, 
and there we stopped for three weeks, and <* 
happy time we had. 

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. 

We will begin our rambles through this great 
city by visiting the churches and the first one that 
attracts our attention is St. Paul's Cathedral. It 
is located in the heart of the city. From the days 
of Diocletian a church has been located upon the 
site where St. PauPs now stands. In fact the 
first building was destroyed in the days of the 
tyrant. The next church was built on this ground 
in the days of Constantine and destroyed by the 
early Saxons. The third building on the same 
ground dates as far back at 610, the fourth in 
1000 and the present building was begun in 1675. 

It took 35 years to erect the present building 
and the cost was more than three million, seven 
hundred thousand dollars. The building is 510 
feet from east to west and 282 feet from north 
to south. Walk around it and you have traveled 
nearly one-half a mile. The cross on the top is 
404 feet from the ground. The great metal ball 
upon which is a cross, weighs 5,600 pounds; the 
cross itself weighing 3,660 pounds. The archi- 
tect was Sir Christopher Wren, and above the 
door is the motto, placed there by his hand, "If 
you would see my monument, look around you/' 

We attended several services in this great 
cathedral. They were all very formal and we did 



LANDS OP SACRED STORY, 



29 



not enjoy them very much. There are some fea- 
tures of the service in all of these churches that 
are commendable. First, there is not a bit of 
whispering. No worshiper enters that does not 
sit down and bow his head in silent prayer. When 
the benediction is pronounced everyone sits down 
for a moment and then quietly gets up and goes 
from the building. There is no visiting. 

In this church is the famous "Whispering Gal- 
lery." This is up near the dome. The distance 
across the dome at this place is 112 feet. You 
enter and the attendant asks you to walk half 
way around and sit down. When you do so he, 
sitting by the door whispers and by the time his 
voice gets around where you are sitting it sounds 
like a loud halloo. It seemed impossible to be- 
lieve that the attendant was whispering and we 
asked the M. E. minister who was with us to re- 
main and we would go and sit down by the at- 
tendant and when the next party came in we 
would find out whether he was whispering or not. 
We did not have to wait long and sure enough he 
just whispered. 

Another interesting curiosity in this church is 
what is called the geometrical staircase that seems 
to hang without any support. There are thirteen 
bells in the building. The largest, called "Great 
Paul," weighs more than 32,000 pounds. This 
bell is rung every day at 12 o'clock and people 
seem to watch for its ringing every day. In this 
church are the tombs of many great men, such as 



30 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



Lord Nelson, Duke of Wellington and maii^ 
others. 

WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 

Westminster Abbey is a great church building 
which is more than 600 years old. It is built in 
the shape of a cross. Its extreme length is more 
than 400 feet and it is more than 200 feet wide 
in the widest place. While it is a church it is also 
the greatest cemetery in the world. More great 
men are buried here than in any other spot on 
earth. 

The ground upon which this church building 
stands is historic. Before the church was built 
a monastery had been there for nearly a thousand 
years. The spot upon which it is built used to be 
called "The Isle of Thorns." There is a tradition 
that says St. Peter was there at one time. Near 
the church is the old palace yard where stood the 
Pillory. Here Sir Walter Raleigh was executed. 

It is hard to describe the inside of this church. 
There is what is called the nave (or middle part) , 
the transepts (or the arms of the cross) and the 
choir. The great pipe organ is in the gallery. 
There are almost a dozen chapels. In this church 
kings and queens have been crowned and great 
historical events have occurred. Here the West- 
minster confession of faith was made and the 
Bible was translated and revised. 

We have already mentioned the fact that this 
is a great cemetery. In the north transept is 
"The Statesmen's Aisle." First we notice the 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY . 



31 



grave of William Pitt. Upon his monument which 
is 33 feet high, is this inscription : "Now Bacon, 
mind you do not turn author; stick to your 
chisel." Here is the grave of Sir Robert Peel, 
who brought about the repeal of the "corn laws." 
Here is the grave of William E. Gladstone, whose 
funeral was the first state funeral since that of 
William Pitt. Near the grave of William Pitt is 
that of his rival, Charles J. Fox, who was called 
the "Man of the People.' 1 He is represented dy- 
ing in the arms of Liberty; a negro, kneeling at 
his feet, is thanking him for his share in aboli- 
tion of the slave trade. 

In the west end of this Nave is the grave of 
William Pitt, Jr., who died insolvent and was 
buried at the public expense. After his death, 
parliament, in recognition of his services to the 
country, voted $200,000 to pay his debts. He is 
represented speaking, while history records his 
words and anarchy crouches in chains at his feet. 
In this portion are the graves of Sir Isaac New- 
ton, David Livingston and scores of the world's 
great men. The poet Ben Johnson was buriad 
here standing upon his feet. He died in poverty 
and as there was but 18 inches square unoccupied 
he was placed in this portion standing up. 

In the portion called the choir it is quite natural 
that we should find the graves of the great hymn 
writers and musicians. Here are monuments 
erected to the memory of Isaac Watts and John 
Wesley. Of course we pause at the grave of the 



32 



LANDS OP SACRED STORY. 



great Wilberforce, who it is said removed from 
England the guilt of the slave trade. 

In the South Transept is the famous "Poet's 
Corner," where lies the remains of Dryden and 
Longfellow and Chaucer and Spencer and Milton 
and Gray and Campbell and Southey and Shakes- 
peare and Burns and Goldsmith and Addition and 
Thackery and a host of others. Then we pass 
the grave of Charles Dickens and nearby is the 
grave of Thomas Parr, who lived one hundred 
fifty-two years. 

We next step into the chapel of Henry VIIL 
Here is the grave of Mary Queen of Scots, but we 
do not care to linger by its side. As we come to the 
grave of Good Queen Bess (Elizabeth) it is dif- 
ferent. When she died there was weeping, so it 
is said, such as had not been known in the mem- 
ory of man. Her funeral train was composed of 
1,600 mourners. The graves of Henry VII, James 
I and II, Charles I and II, Oliver Cromwell and 
many others are in this chapel. 

In the chapel dedicated to St. Paul we have 
among other relics "The cloth in which the saint's 
head was wrapped after the execution (?)" etc., 
etc. The body of James Watt, the inventor of the 
steam engine, is here. In St. Nicholas Chapel is 
the most attractive monument in the whole world. 
It is of white marble and "death is represented 
starting from beneath and aiming his dart at 
Lady Elizabeth, who shrinks back into her hus- 
band V arms." It is said that a robber broke into 
the abbey one night and was so terrified at this , 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



33 



figure that he dropped his tools and fled from 
the building. 

In the "Chapel of the Kings," where so many 
of the English sovereigns are burned, is the 
famous coronation chair. In the seat of this 
chair is the ' 'stone of destiny," which tradition 
says is the one upon which Jacob rested his head 
at Bethel. Jacob's sons carried it to Egypt and 
from there it was carried to Spain. About 700 
years later it turned up in Ireland, where it was 
placed upon the sacred hill of Tara. When the 
Irish kings were seated upon it at their corona- 
tion the stone groaned aloud if he was of the 
royal race, but remained silent if he was a pre- 
tender. Next we hear of it in Scotland and when 
Edward I overran that country he found the stone 
and carried it to Westminster Abbey. 

In other parts of this great building there are 
many interesting monuments and inscriptions. 
On one gravestone there used to be, it is said, this 
inscription : "What I gave, I have ; what I spent 
I had ; what I left I lost by not giving it." In 
one part of the building it is said there is a stone 
door with seven locks and lined with human 
skins. This can only be opened with permission 
and in the presence of officers of the government. 

HORNSEY TABERNACLE. 

One Sunday morning we went to one of our 
churches called Hornsey Tabernacle, Bro. Will- 
iam Durban, whose articles were in the Chris- 
tian Evangelist every week, was the pastor. We 



84 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



found a very fine company gathered for the morn- 
ing worship. Brother Durban insisted on us 
preaching the sermon. After a short prayer 
meeting in the "elders' room" we spoke as best 
we could and it was a great delight to speak to 
such an appreciative audience. To our surprise 
the following note appeared in the next issue of 
the Christian Commonwealth: 

"James T. Nichols, pastor of the Christian church, Vin- 
ton, Iowa, is one of the many American preachers now in 
London as Christian Endeavorers. He preached on Sun- 
day morning at Hornsey Tabernacle to a deeply interested 
congregation. Mr. Nichols possesses the common Ameri- 
can merit of perfect fluency of speech, together with an 
unpretending ease of manner. He preached with great 
simplicity of language, but with considerable originality 
of thought, his subject being the gospel as commended by 
Paul to Timothy." 

SPURGEON'S TABERNACLE. 

Another Sunday morning we went to Spur- 
geon's Tabernacle. This is one of the greatest 
churches in London. The services were held that 
day in the basement of the new building, the audi- 
torium was not quite finished at that time. There 
was a great audience present. They had no choir 
and no organ. The pastor, Thomas Spurgeon, 
was on his vacation. A Rev. Williams preached 
the sermon. When time came for service to be- 
gin about twenty elders, nearly all grey headed, 
marched to the platform, led by the minister. 
Only the old songs were sung and everybody 
sang. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



35 



WESLEY'S CHAPEL. 

One of the interesting churches in the world's 
greatest city is Wesleys chapel. The building has 
been remodeled and enlarged but many things are 
just as they were when John Wesley was the reg- 
ular preacher. 

The main auditorium of this chapel is almost 
square. The gallery occupies three sides. The 
great pipe organ is divided, one-half being in the 
opposite corners of the pulpit, while the keyboard 
is down in front of the pulpit. The choir is in 
front of the speaker. The beautiful marble col- 
umns which support the gallery were gifts from 
the various branches of the Methodist church. 

In this chanel we heard an English minister 
preach an uplifting sermon on the subject of 
"Love." Among other things he said: "Before 
Christ came the way to perfect manhood was an 
unbeaten path, but Christ cleared out the thorns 
and briars and opened the way." "Many statues 
in tbe museum are rough and unfinished. We 
are the unfinished statues in the church." "As a 
king stood at the gate of a city an old knight 
hobbled up to him weeping because he could not 
go, but when he bid his seven sons good-by he re- 
joiced ; let us be like the old knight in the battle 
for the right. Love is the most beautiful gar- 
ment, in which the soul of man can be clad." 

In front of the chapel is a large statue of John 
Wesley and just back of the building is the ceme- 
tery where he is buried. The grave of Adam 



36 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



Clark is also in the burying ground. Adjoining 
the chapel is Wesley's Museum. Here are the 
rooms where the founder of Methodism lived, the 
bed in which he slept, the chairs, tables, etc., that 
were in his home and his books, portraits and 
personal relics. 

Just across the street from Wesley's chapel is 
the Bunhill Fields cemetery. Here lies all that 
is mortal of John Bunyan. Also the graves of Dr. 
Isaac Watts and the mother of Charles and John 
Wesley are in this cemetery. Just a little farther 
west is the Friends burial ground, in which is 
the grave of George Fox, founder of the Society 
of Friends, or Quakers. 

A JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 

Among the interesting places of worship visited 
was a Jewish synagogue. The rabbi lived "hard 
by the synagogue." When we visited him in the 
afternoon he said he was very sorry but it was 
not a day that visitors were allowed in the build- 
ing. On learning that we were from America he 
said he was willing to break the rule and would 
gladly show us through the building and grounds. 

After visiting the synagogue we were taken 
back of the building to their booths where they 
observe the "Feast of the Tabernacles." When 
ready to leave the rabbi said he would be pleased 
to have us return to a service in the evening 
which invitation we accepted and will describe 
the meeting. 

The pulpit (as we will call it) was in the cen- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



37 



ter of the room. In one end were the lamps that 
are never allowed to go out. The men keep their 
hats on. The rabbi explained to the writer be- 
forehand that if we wanted to respect the Jew to 
never remove our hat in a synagogue. Hebrew 
mottoes adorned the walls. The ladies sit in the 
gallery and are out of sight of most all of the 
men. 

As soon as we entered, the rabbi discovered us 
and had a servant bring us a Bible with Hebrew 
and English side by side. The service was all in 
Hebrew and the women kept silent. That was 
about the only religious service we ever attended 
where a woman's voice was not heard. The men 
did it all — reading, praying, singing, etc. 

After the service the rabbi explained that a 
laymen led the service that night. He said lay- 
men were sometimes allowed to take the lead pro- 
vided there had been a death in the family during 
the past twelve months — also, he said a layman 
felt that it was a great honor to be allowed to 
lead. Part of the lesson was read in concert and 
their prayers were all in concert and every man 
took part. After the service we visited with the 
rabbi for a half hour and it was a very pleasant 
visit. 

ROYAL ALBERT HALL. 

Another religious service that we enjoyed was 
a sacred concert in Royal Albert Hall. This hall 
has four galleries, one above the other, and will 
seat 10,000 people. The organ is one of the finest 



38 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



in the world. It was here that the great Torry- 
Alexander meetings were held a few years ago. 
This hall is located at the edge of Hyde Park, one 
of the interesting places in London. This park 
covers 361 acres and is the resort of the most 
fashionable people in the city. Thousands of 
chairs are free to the public. 

THE MONUMENT. 

There are hundreds of monuments in London, 
but near the heart of the city is one that over- 
shadows all others. It is called "The Monument/' 
It is 202 feet high on the top of which is an iron 
cage in which you stand while viewing the city. 
The screen that is there was not placed there at 
the beginning. Before it was screened nearly 
every morning there was a dead body on the pave- 
ment below — suicides — hence the screen. 

On the west side of the monument is a great 
emblematic design in bas-relief representing the 
destruction of the city, with Charles II surround- 
ed by Liberty, Genius and Science giving direc- 
tions for its rebuilding. This monument stands 
on the spot where the great London fire in 1666 
started and was built in memory of that great 
calamity. This conflagration destroyed 13,000 
homes, 89 churches and the property loss was 
$36,675,000. The fire began at Pudding Lane 
and was stopped at "Pye Corner," and one clergy- 
man took that as a pretext for saying the fire 
was sent upon the people for their greediness. 

THE BLACK DEATH. 

This great conflagration was a blessing in dis- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



39 



guise. For one whole year the "Great Plague" 
had been raging in London. During 1665 more 
than 100,000 people died from this awful scourge. 
In a portion of the city all was silent but an occa- 
sional moan. Grass grew in the streets. Mourn- 
ing for the dead v/as seldom seen. Parents left 
their children in their fright and sometimes chil- 
dren ran away from their parents only to perish. 
It was an awful time. The only vehicles in the 
streets were the death carts and the hoarse com- 
mand, "Bring out your dead" was about the only 
words spoken. 

When a home was smitten with the scourge a 
great red cross was marked upon the door. Some- 
times the words "Lord have mercy upon us," were 
written beneath the cross. Sometimes the wicked 
in wild desperation attempted to sing and drink 
liquor but were smitten as they drank and went 
out and died. Some died entirely alone and un- 
attended. Some were killed by nurses and robbed 
of what they had. Great fires were lit in the 
streets to purify the air but were as futile as 
though they had been lighted in the jungles of 
Africa. 

During this awful time the dead could not be 
buried. The bodies, some of which were hardly 
covered with clothing, were laid in the dead carts, 
Great trenches were dug and the carts backed up 
and the bodies dumped into them. Rich and poor 
went together. For awhile the dead were thus 
buried at night, but soon the nights were not long 
enough and they had to work night and day. 



40 LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 

When the great fire broke out it baffled all at- 
tempts to stop it. It just seemed as an angel 
from the regions below was determined to burn 
the city. On and on the flames spread for three 
days and three nights. An attempt would be 
made to blow up houses that were in the pathway 
but before they could destroy them the flaming 
monster would overtake the workmen. The king's 
pale face showed his weakness and the lord mayor 
wrung his hands in despair. When the great fire 
was checked it was found that the awful plague- 
swept portion of the city was burned up and thus 
the awful calamity proved to be a blessing after 
all. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



41 



CHAPTER IV. 
RAMBLES THROUGH LONDON. 
(Continued.) 

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 

HE HOUSES of parliament cover eight acres 



* of ground. They contain 1,100 rooms. The 
buildings cost fifteen million dollars. The clock 
tower is 320 feet high and 40 feet square. The dial 
of the clock is 23 feet in diameter. In the tower 
there is a gigantic bell called "Big Ben," which 
weighs 26,000 pounds. The House of Lords seats 
550 and of course it is a great room. The seats 
have no desks in front of them. 

Near by these buildings is the old palace yard, 
where stood the pillory. We will describe this 
later when we deal with the "Chamber of Hor- 
rors." Here Sir Walter Raleigh was executed. 
Here the "Gunpowder Plot" was hatched out and 
as this was one of the most daring and desperate 
plots in all history we will just give you a brief 
description of it. 

James I was king of England. He was a pro- 
testant and of course the Catholics did not like 
him. This plot was originated in the year 1604. 
Two Catholic nobles were at the bottom of the 
whole scheme, which was to place a whole train 
load of gunpowder under the house of parliament 
and when the king, lords and commons were in- 




42, 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



side, blow it to atoms. It was as cold-blooded a 
scheme as was ever conceived in the heart of 

man 

The conspirators took into their confidence 
about twenty desperate men of whom one Guy 
Fawks was chosen as the leader. The plan was 
to hire a house next to the house of parliament 
and tunnel through, beneath the ground. After 
the house was secured it was discovered that the 
basement of the parliament house was for rent 
and securing this they were saved much trouble. 
They succeeded in getting thirty-six barrels of 
gunpowder into this basement without exciting 
suspicion. They kept these barrels well covered 
with rubbish and no one was the wiser. 

The time set for the opening of parliament was 
May 1605, and this was the time they planned to 
blow the building up. Fawks was to fire the pow- 
der. Every protestant noble who escaped was to 
be seized and a general uprising of the Catholics 
was to follow and protestantism was to be stamp- 
ed out in blood. It so happened that the opening 
of parliament was delayed several times. In the 
meantime the conspirators had not thought of the 
fact that there were some Catholics among the 
members of parliament and when the opening 
was postponed from time to time the truth dawned 
upon them. Somehow the Catholics must be 
warned and a disagreement arose among the 
plotters. 

Finally the 5th of November was the date 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



43 



parliament was to be opened. Just a few days 
before one of the Catholics received an anony- 
mous letter giving him the warning. Of course 
it caused not a little excitement, as he at once told 
others. A few of the conspirators got wind of the 
fact that an investigation was to be made and 
skipped the country. Fawks was at his post. 
About midnight the night before the opening the 
searchers started into the basement and met 
Fawks in the door. In his possession was found 
a tinder box and touchwood. At once this mighty 
conspirator was seized and bound with his own 
garters. On taking away some rubbish they dis- 
covered the thirty-six bottles of powder, but the 
day was saved. Had this plot not been discov- 
ered the greatest catastrophe of all history would 
have taken place and the destiny of England, and 
perhaps the world, been changed. No wonder 
King James I was determined to give to the world 
an open Bible which always has been and always 
will be the doom of Catholicism. 

Soon after his arrest Fawks was taken before 
the king and answered questions sarcastically, but 
refused to implicate anyone but himself. Nearly 
all the conspirators were caught, however. On 
the 27th of January, 1606, they were tried and 
condemned to be hanged and quartered. Fawks 
was tortured but not a word would he utter. He 
was the last one to ascend the scaffold and died 
without a shudder. 

THE TOWER. 

About the most interesting place in London to 



44 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



the lover of history is "The Tower." While it 
was first built for a "palace," it is best known as 
a "prison" or better still, as the "home of sor- 
row." Within this inclosure have occurred events 
that make one's blood run cold. To recount the 
deeds done here would chill a heart of steel. 
No wonder one of the buildings is called "bloody 
tower." Here kings and queens and nobles and 
princes, to say nothing of just common people, 
have been tortured and hanged and burned and 
smothered and starved and drowned and behead- 
ed and shot and killed in almost every imaginable 
way. 

It has been well said that "man's inhumanity to 
man makes countless thousands mourn," and that 
"the curtains of history rise to present a weeping 
world." If the walls of "The Tower" could speak 
the whole world would stop to listen and even at 
this late date a wave of sorrow would encircle 
the earth. On the wall in a little cemetery near 
one of the chapels is a plate upon which are in- 
scribed these words: "In truth there is no sad- 
der spot on earth than this little cemetery. Death 
is here associated * * * with whatever is darkest 
in human nature and human destiny, with the 
savage triumph of implacable enemies, with the 
inconstancy, the ingratitude, the cowardice of 
friends, with all the miseries of fallen greatness 
and of blighted fame." 

The tower grounds cover an area of 13 acres and 
are surrounded by a wall and a deep moat. The 
oldest part, called the "White Tower," was begun 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



45 



by William the Conqueror in 1078. This building 
is 100 feet square and 100 feet high. The walls 
are 15 feet thick. Although it has stood the 
storms of 800 years, it is seemingly as strong as 
the day it was finished. It was in this building 
that Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned for 18 
years and finally beheaded. It was here that the 
queen, Anne Boleyn was taken after a day's tor- 
ment and executed without the slightest hint of 
the nature of her accusations or warning of her 
fate and only the next day her monster husband, 
King Henry the VIII, married Jane Seymour. 

In this White Tower we saw the instruments of 
torture used in days gone by. Here are suits of 
old armour used in the different ages of English 
history. At the present time it is said there are 
arms enough in this building to stock an army 
of a million men. We trust that there will never 
be an occasion for their use. Walking through 
the great aisles among the equestrian figures and 
soldiers in full armour one gets a glimpse of the 
munitions of war, 

About the most interesting building is the 
"Record Tower." Its walls are 18 feet thick. 
Here are the crown jewels or regalia. The jewels 
in this tower are valued at $15,000,000. It is the 
richest collection perhaps in the world. We never 
expect to see so much wealth in one room again. 
The crown of Queen Victoria contains 2,783 dia- 
monds and 310 other gems. King Edward's crown 
is pure gold — not a precious stone in it. One 
staff of gold is four and one-half feet long and 



46 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



weighs 20 pounds. An Irishman by the name of 
Thomas Blood beat the custodian senseless and all 
but got away with some of the jewels, but an 
alarm was given and he was captured. Strange 
as it may seem this man Blood so terrified the 
king by warning him of the vengeance his friends 
would take in case he was executed that he was 
released and given a pension of $2,500 per year 
for life. 

DR. BARNARDO'S HOMES. 

One of the most interesting places in the world's 
greatest city is Dr. Bernardo's famous homes. 
They are situated in the White Chapel district — 
the slums of the notorious "East End." 

This home is for orphans and children of 
drunken parents — for the poor, the maimed, the 
halt and the blind. It was at the Sunday school 
hour on the Lord's day that we made the visit. 
About 400 of the worst of London's outcasts were 
there. Men had to stand only a few feet apart to 
watch them and in spite of their efforts to keep 
silence and order these boys actually fought over 
the seats while the scripture was being read. 

Dr. Barnardo was a hero, to give his life for the 
outcasts of London. When a young man he was a 
student in the London hospital, where he min- 
istered to the wants of those afflicted with cholera 
and other loathsome diseases. On Sundays he 
taught in the Ragged School which was held m a 
bam in London's East End. 

One chilly, bitter night after a hard day's work. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



47 



just as he was ready to lock up, a little boy came 
into the room. His name was Jim Jarvis. This 
little fellow was bareheaded, shoeless and shirt- 
less. Just a few rags covered his shivering body. 
When Barnardo went to lock up the little waif 
pleaded to be allowed to stay all night, promising 
to do no harm, when the following conversation 
took place : 

"0 no; run away home." 

"Got no home, ,, was the boy's quick rejoinder. 

"Got no home!" exclaimed Barnardo. "Be off 
and go home to your mother! Don't tell me" — 

"Got no mother," repeated the boy. 

"Then go home to your father," Barnardo con- 
tinued. 

"Got no father," said the little fellow. 

"Got no father? But where are you friends? 
Where do you live?" 

"Don't live nowhere; got no friends," said the 
lonely lad. 

The above conversation made quite an impres- 
sion upon young Barnardo. Upon investigation 
he found that this case was only one in a thou- 
sand. In a humble way he began to plan to help 
them with one great object in view, viz. : to relieve 
their misery and alleviate their suffering. It was 
in that work he spent his noble life and died at 
his post only a short time ago. 

Some would say, "What is the use? What can 
one man do?" Barnardo did not ask such ques- 
tions, but went to work. Year by year the work 
grew. He redeemed 50,000 children from the 



48 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



getter. He collected and expended more than 
$15,000,000. He sent 17,000 children to Canada 
and 98 per cent of them have turned out well. 
Every year companies of boys and girls are 
brought to Canada and it is said that "on the 
average every child is applied for in Canada ten 
times over." 

The Morning Star in quoting from another pa- 
per, well says: 

"The great lesson of Dr. Barnardo's career is 
the profound influence that may be exerted by a 
single life. This young doctor, poor, friendless, 
unknown, set himself nearly forty years ago to a 
task which might have seemed utterly hopeless. 
All this labor he might very well have been told 
would be like a straw cast into a stream to stem 
the torrent. But he cast in the straw, and now he 
leaves his record behind him in the fact that he 
took 50,000 children from the gutter, fed them, 
clothed them, educated them and made an honest 
and useful life possible for all of them, and actual 
for the immense majority." 

BRITISH MUSEUM. 

The most interesting place in Londojn to the 
student of history is the British Museum. We 
could hardly give a hint of its wonders in a dozen 
chapters. We should have had days to visit it 
where we only had hours. 

The museum dates from 1754. Since that time 
a dozen other museums have been combined with 
it until it has become the treasure house of the 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



49 



world. It has eight different departments and is 
open free to the public almost every day in the 
year. 

In the department of inscriptions is the oldest 
extant roll of papyrus dating from B. C. 2500. 
Here are copies of the treatise of Aristotle on 
the Constitution of Athens and other literary 
works that had been lost for centuries. The copy- 
book of a school boy in the second century is 
among other interesting relics. 

The most interesting manuscript in the mu- 
seum to Bible students, however, is the Codex 
Alexandrinus, which is one of the three oldest 
copies of the Bible in existence. It is written in 
Greek on very thin vellum and dates from the fifth 
century. It was originally in Alexandria, Egypt, 
but was presented to an English sovereign nearly 
300 years ago. 

Here also are Latin Bibles which date from the 
ninth century. St. Jerome's version and Wy- 
clifT's version, etc. etc. Here are photographs of 
the Magna Charta, seals of the English sovereigns 
from Edward the Confessor to Queen Victoria 
and a thousand other interesting seals and docu- 
ments. 

Among the Greek and Roman antiquities are in- 
scriptions referring to Alexander the Great and 
his conquests ; to the Temple of Diana in Ephesus ; 
relics from Xanthor, a town in Asia Minor, which 
was destroyed by the Persians 546 B. C. ; casts 
from the Temple of Jupiter which was built 460 



50 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



B. C, many representatives of sacrifice, battles, 
plagues, etc., etc. 

In the Mausoleum room are the sculptures of 
the Mausoleum at Halicarnassos, which were ex- 
cavated in 1857. When Mausolius, Prince of 
Caria, died 353 B. C, the widow built in memory 
of him, a monument of unequaled splendor. It 
was so rich and beautiful as well as so large that 
it was called one of the seven wonders of the 
world. It was in the form of a mighty pyramid, 
supported by thirty-six great Ionic columns which 
stood upon a lofty base. Upon the top of the gi- 
gantic pyramid was a four-horse chariot with 
colossal statues of Mausolus and his wife. This 
wonderful chariot group was white marble and 
as the monument was 140 feet high it could be 
seen for miles. 

One of the most interesting monuments in the 
British Museum if not in the whole world, is the 
"Rosetta Stone." This stone was found near 
Rosetta, Egypt, in the year 1799. Napoleon, with 
his armies, were on their way to the interior of 
Egypt. In dredging the river Nile this stone was 
found. 

The stone contained three kinds of writing. The 
first was the Hieroglyphic, which was the language 
of the Egyptian priests. The second was the 
Demotic or language of the common people of 
Egypt. The third was the Greek. From the first 
it was thought that each of the writings was a 
translation of the other, but no one could read 
anything but the Greek. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



51 



For sixteen years no one could decipher the 
hieroglyphic characters until finally Dr. Young 
made out the word Ptolemy. In five years more 
another man had deciphered the word Cleopatra 
on an obelisk and another learned man had made 
out another name on the walls of Karnak and 
with the knowledge thus gained a man by the 
name of Champollion soon had the whole writing 
on the Rosetta Stone deciphered and it thus be- 
came the key that unlocked the history of Egypt, 
which had baffled the scholars of the ages. 

In the Egyptian rooms are mummies galore, not 
only of human beings, but of animals as well. 
Here are colossal heads of granite, mummy cases 
and coffins that were hoary with age before Abra- 
ham was born; figures in limestone, marble and 
wood which were buried with mummies to serve 
them in the other world; writing materials, wax 
tablets, earthenware, porcelain, bricks stamped 
with names of kings, musical instruments, silver- 
ware, ivory ornaments, toilet articles, gilded orna- 
ments, necklaces, rings, seals and a thousand other 
interesting relics. 

In the end of one of these Egyptian rooms is 
the Judgment Scene in the Book of the Dead, en- 
larged from a painting in the papyrus of Ani, 
which dates back 1500 years before Christ. We 
will give you the printed description of this scene : 
'The upper line represents gods seated as judges 
in order before a table of offerings. Below is the 
scene of the Weighing of the Conscience. The 
heart (or Conscience) of the dead man is weighed 



52 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



in the balance against the Feather, symbolical of 
Law, Anubis (with the head of a jackal) exam- 
ines the tongue of the Balance. Opposite to 
Anubis stands Destiny; behind him are Fortune 
and the goddess of Birth. The human-headed 
bird is the soul of the dead man. Ani and his 
wife stand on the left in an attitude of devotion. 
On the right of the scene, Thoth, the scribe of the 
gods (with the head of an ibis) notes the result 
of the trial. Behind him is the monster Amemit, 
the Devourer, with the head of a crocodile, the 
middle parts of a lion, and the hindquarters of a 
hippopotamus. Thoth pronounces judgment: 
The heart of Ani hath been weighed and his soul 
standeth as a witness for him. It hath been found 
true by trial in the great Balance.' The right- 
hand portion of the painting is occupied by a 
scene representing Ani being introduced by the 
god Horus into the presence of the god Osiris, 
judge of the dead/' 

In another Egyptian room are found mummied 
animals which include bulls, gazellas, cats, croco- 
diles, dogs, apes and reptiles. While living these 
animals were kept in the sacred temples and care- 
fully looked after every day. After death they 
were embalmed and placed in tombs like human 
beings. It is thought by many that the idolatrous 
worship of the Golden Calf at the foot of Mt. 
Sinai was derived from the Egyptian worship of 
the ApisbulL 

In the Ephesian room are many relics from the 
Temple of Diana at Ephesus. Among other things 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



53 



is a so-called head of Alexander the Great. This 
brings to mind the story that is told about Alex- 
ander ottering to pay the entire cost of the build- 
ing if they would allow his name placed upon it 
in letters of gold, which they refused to do. 

The Temple of Diana was one of the seven 
wonders of the world. It was 440 feet long and 
220 feet wide. It took 200 years to build it. Upon 
a gigantic elevation or base stood 127 pillars 
which were 60 feet high and upon which rested 
the temple. Paul evidently had this in mind when 
he said the church of the living God is the pillar 
and ground (support) of the truth. 

It is said that in this temple was a great flight 
of stairs cut out of a single grapevine. It is also 
said that there was one painting in this temple 
that cost nearly $200,000; that the treasures of 
all nations were kept here for safe deposit; that 
here fled criminals from all countries, for when 
they once reached this temple they were safe, it 
serving as a city of refuge. No wonder that peo- 
ple made souvenirs of the image, which was on 
the top, for sale, and cried out "Great is Diana of 
the Ephesians." 

One of the most interesting relics in the museum 
is the "Black Obelisk" of the Assyrian king, 
Shalamanezer. This stone was found in what is 
supposed to be the ruins of Ninevah. Up to the 
time this stone was found we are told that skeptics 
said to Christian students that the Bible is full of 
mistakes, that it tells of kings of Assyria whose 
names are not mentioned in their own history and 



54 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



the worst thing about it was that the statement 
was true. 

When this stone was found it was discovered 
that the names of their kings were given just as 
the Bible gives them. That is easily explained 
when we remember that many nations did not 
even mention the names of their kings, who were, 
in their estimation, bad men. Even our own his- 
torians pass lightly over the mistakes of our great 
men. It will only be a few years until the fact 
that one of the presidents of the United States 
was a murderer is forgotten. The Bible is re- 
liable for it records men's failures as well as their 
successes. 

If you have an Oxford Bible with all the helps 
and will turn the pages you will be surprised to 
see so many illustrations of things in the British 
Museum. In this wonderful collection are repre- 
sentations of kings receiving tribute, royal lion 
hunts, great battles and sieges, bricks stamped 
with a king's name, stories of the capture of cities, 
accounts of the deluge, objects of worship, ac- 
counts of the creation, historical tablets and tens 
of thousands of interesting things. 

THE ROYAL MINT. 

We had quite an experience getting permission 
to visit the Royal Mint. A good share of the 
time we were accompanied by an M. E. minister 
from Canada by the name of Hoskings. One day 
early in the week the writer said, "Brother Hos- 
kings, let us go and see the Royal Mint next Sat- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



55 



urday." "All right," said he, "but how will you 
get permission ? I have been in London before and 
never could get in and if you can do it I will be 
glad." 

We had learned that to visit the mint one must 
write to the proper official and if he feels all right 
it is easy to get an order from him. Well, we 
just got up the best letter possible and received 
an answer the next day regretting very much, of 
course, that the Royal Mint would soon close that 
some repairs might be made and that all the orders 
for visitors had been signed. Of course it was 
his desire to accommodate us, but found it im- 
possible, etc., etc. 

When we showed Bro. Hoskings the letter he 
wisely smiled and said "I told you so." "We will 
see that mint if we have to climb the wall," said I, 
and he laughed again. "Give it up and don't fool 
away any more time on that," said he, but we are 
not always ready to give up when an obstacle is in 
the way — we would rather move the obstacle 
sometimes at least. 

Well, we just sat down and wrote that official 
another letter acknowledging the receipt of his 
letter and thanking him for his kindly interest, 
etc., etc. Here is one of the sentences of that let- 
ter — it has stayed in our memory all these years — 
"My friend and I will be in London July 25 and 
if you can give us a special (the word special was 
underscored) order for that day it will be appre- 
ciated most heartily. The number of my U. S. 
passport is 27048." To our very great delight 



56 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



and the M. E. preacher's very great surprise only 
the next evening we received a most cordial letter 
with an order enclosed upon which was written, 
"This order will admit Jas. T. Nichols and ten of 
his friends to the Royal Mint July 25." 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



57 



CHAPTER V. 
RAMBLES THROUGH LONDON. 

ALONE AND LOST. 

THE SECOND night we were in the city we 
were alone and lost. It happened like this. 
It was about ten miles from the home of Mr. Page 
to the central part of the city. It took almost one 
and one-half hours to make the journey on the 
street car for at that time the street cars were all 
drawn by horses or mules. The quickest way was 
to get on the railroad at one of the down town 
depots and get off at Woodgreen station and walk 
about three-fourths of a mile. At Wood- 
green station several prominent streets center and 
as we went down on the railroad we took a good 
look so we would be sure to take the right street. 
After attending a meeting at Wesley's chapel we 
started home about 9 :45, arriving at Woodgreen 
about 10:30 o'clock. 

On coming out of the booking station (depot) 
those streets did not look the same as in daylight 
and we did not take the right one. After walking 
fully a half hour we realized that we had started 
out on the wrong street and as they are nearly all 
crooked we were lost. 

Lost in the world's greatest city at the mid- 
night hour is not the most pleasant thing in the 
world. The streets are poorly lighted and as we 
went down in a low place where it was rather 



58 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



dark we saw a man coming down the hill toward 
us at break-neck speed ana that did not add much 
to our comfort. 

We were not frightened (for a wonder) but ran 
out into the best lighted place near and he ran 
right up and said : "Did you hear those screams ?" 
"No," said I. "Thank you," said he, and on he 
went. He was a policeman. 

Walking up the hill we soon came to another 
policeman and asked him to direct us to Melrose 
avenue. No such place in London, sir, said he, 
and we believe to this day that he had a notion 
to take charge of us. On we went, hardly know- 
ing where to go, until we found another police- 
man, and asked again for Melrose avenue, stating 
this time it was a new avenue and there were only 
a half dozen houses on the street, it being only 
about two or three blocks in length. 

This man was a kindly disposed fellow and 
asked if we could describe some public build- 
ing or church or anything near it, for he said he 
had been in London twenty years and that was 
the first time he ever heard of Melrose avenue. 
After studying for a few moments we just hap- 
pened to think of a large tent only a few blocks 
from Mr. Paige's and described the buildings 
near it. We had paid particular attention to this 
for there was a sub postoffice near it and we had 
purchased stamps there early that morning. 

Well, said he, there is a tent like you describe 
across yonder, but it is a long distance from here. 
He kindly volunteered to go as far as he was 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



allowed and directed us so carefully and accurately 
that we found the tent and then in a few minutes 
walked in at the front gate and found Mr. 
and Mrs. Paige both up and wonderfully alarmed 
over the young man from America, who was to 
stay with them three weeks. 

A FEW INCIDENTS 

While waiting for a car one morning we noticed 
a barber's sign and took a notion to get shaved. 
On stepping inside the door we noticed a couple 
of ordinary arm chairs sitting there, but supposed 
the real barber shop was another room adjoining. 
A small boy was in the room and we asked for 
the barber, but he did not seem to understand so 
we asked for the "shaver." Just at that the bar- 
ber appeared in the door and we asked if he could 
shave our face in about a minute. "Thank you, 
sir, I will try," said he, and he jumped over a 
chair, knocking it down, and said, "Sit down, sir," 
and pointed to one of the arm chairs. 

We had hardly reached the chair before he 
jerked back our head and in a second had lather 
all over our face, giving our eyes and ears a good 
share. By the time we breathed again he had 
swiped the big razor, which looked about as much 
like a butcher knife as a razor, over one whole 
side of our face, having the back of our head 
against his knee. The whole thing was done so 
quickly that we hardly had time to even try to say 
a word. While in the city we went through the 
famous White Chapel slums at midnight, was on 



60 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



the top of a tram car going down hill when it ran 
off of the track and were in several other mishaps 
but the worst scare of all our experience by all 
odds was this experience in the so-called barber 
shop. The one consolation was, however, that we 
caught the first tram car for the city. 

Speaking of the tram cars leads us to say a 
word about the transportation facilities of this 
mighty city. The most popular conveyance is the 
Hansom cab. It is named for the man who in- 
vented it, has but two wheels and is about the best 
way to get around. There were 11,000 Hansom 
cabs in the city when we were there. The omni- 
bus was, perhaps, used by the largest number of 
people. These vehicles are like the tram cars, 
double decked — that is, as many seats on the too 
as on the inside. There were 150 omnibus lines 
in London in 1900. 

It is pleasant to ride on the top of an omnibus 
or tram car in the evening, if the weather is fine. 
We were on the top of a car one night when it 
was raining. Just in front of us sat a man on his 
way home from work. The night was very dark. 
A lady sitting beside him knocked his hat off with 
her umbrella and he had to stop the car get down 
in the mud and rain to find his hat and then wait 
possibly fifteen minutes for another car. Of 
course he was mad. We felt sorry for him. 

We were on the top of a car one day when a 
little boy was run over. We did not see him 
but heard him scream. The traffic in the entire 
street was stopped in a second. A drayman pass- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



61 



ing jumped from his wagon, never thinking of his 
team, grabbed the little fellow in his arms and 
ran across the corner to a physician's office, fol- 
lowed by both conductor and driver and most of 
the passengers. What in this country would not 
have stopped traffic but a few seconds kept every- 
thing at a standstill for about ten minutes and it 
was found that the little boy was not seriously in- 
jured at all. 

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 

A visit to the Royal Exchange was interesting. 
The building cost about three quarters of a million 
dollars and is a magnificent structure with a mas- 
sive Corinthian portico. Here is a little story that 
we clipped from a recent magazine about this 
building : "Thomas Gresham who built the Royal 
Exchange in London, was the son of a poor wom- 
an, who, while he was an infant, abandoned him in 
a field. The chirping of a grasshopper attracted 
a boy to the spot where the child lay ; and his life 
was, by this means, preserved. After Sir Thomas 
had, by his success as a merchant, risen to com- 
mercial wealth and greatness, he chose a grass- 
hopper for his crest; and becoming, under Queen 
Elizabeth, the founder of the Royal Exchange, 
his crest was placed on the walls of the building 
in several parts, and a vane, or weathercock in 
the figure of a grasshopper, was fixed on the 
summit of the tower." 

As we passed along from the Royal Exchange 
we saw a bronze statue erected upon the tomb of 



62 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



General Gordon upon which is the following in- 
scription, as we have it copied in our notebook: 
"Who at all times and everywhere gave his 
strength to the weak, his substance to the poor, 
his sympathy to the poor and his heart to God." 

The Royal Courts of Justice are near, so we 
will drop in a moment. This building and the 
grounds cost $10,750,000. There are in the build- 
ing 19 great court rooms and 1,100 apartments. 
The great central hall is 238 feet long, 48 feet 
wide and 80 feet high. The fine Mosaic flooring 
is wonderful. 

Near at hand is the famous gardens called Lin- 
coln Inn Fields. Here Lord William Russell was 
beheaded for his supposed participation in the 
famous (or rather infamous) Rye House Plot. 
Sir Thomas More, Oliver Cromwell and other 
famous men lived here. 

SOANS MUSEUM. 

A visit to Soans Museum is worth while. We 
were much interested in the wonderful astron- 
omical clock which shows the movements of the 
earth around the sun, moon's phases, time of day, 
month and year, signs of the Zodiac, etc. A Bible 
400 years old has beautiful illustrations, the colors 
of which are as bright and new looking as if only 
made last week. Here are Hogarth's paintings, 
known the world over. One series of eight are 
worth $15,000 each. Another of four are worth 
$20,000 each. Here is a "Monk's Parlour," and 
instruments of torture of almost every descrip- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



63 



tion. Also an Egyptian coffin said to be 3,400 
years old, and which is one solid piece of alabas- 
ter. 

MADAM TUSSAUD'S WAX WORKS. 

One of the most interesting museums in London 
is known as Madam Tussaud's Wax Works. Here 
are 300 life-size figures of great men and women 
and they are almost as natural as life. In the 
Kail of Kings are represented all the sovereigns 
of England. Here may be seen William the Con- 
queror as he dressed in his particular age, as well 
as good Queen Bess and Bloody Mary and all the 
rest. The statue of Mary Queen of Scotts has 
around the neck the rosary she wore to the 
scaffold. 

Also in this museum is what is called the 
"Sleeping Beauty," a reclining figure whose bosom 
rises and falls with unceasing regularity, done 
of course by some clever mechanical device. A 
little old woman sits looking at this beautiful fig- 
ure and she looks so natural that half of the people 
think she is alive. 

The figures of policemen standing here and 
there are so natural that many will stop and ask 
them questions about the various personages rep- 
resented. The writer of these lines knows by ac- 
tual experience how one feels when they ask for 
information and find on looking closer that it is 
only a dummy policeman instead of a real man. 

In this museum is the celebrated traveling car- 
riage used by Napoleon and which was captured 



64 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



by the Prussians at the battle of Waterloo and 
which sold for $12,000. In the same room is the 
camp bedstead used by the emperor during his 
seven years in captivity on the Island of St. 
Helena. 

One of the most interesting rooms in the entire 
museum is the world famous "Chamber of Hor- 
rors." Here are instruments of torture of every 
description. Here is the old guillotine that was 
used in Paris during the awful "Reign of Terror." 
Upon this instrument of death alone it is said that 
2,800 persons were beheaded and the "chop" of the 
guillotine was heard a mile away and almost with- 
out a shudder. If you would like to read a de- 
scription of those awful days that you can never 
forget read "A Tale of Two Cities," by Charles 
Dickens. This "Chamber of Horrors" is such a 
dreadful place that we will leave it without an- 
other word. 

THE NATIONAL GALLERY. 

This is one of the greatest galleries of its kind 
in existence. Here are thousands of the world's 
greatest paintings. We will give the names of 
some that impressed us most: "The Crucifixion," 
"The Procession to Calvary when Jesus is falling 
beneath the cross," "Martyrdom of St. Sebastian," 
"Conversion of Paul," "Esther Before the King," 
"Joseph Meeting His Kindred in Egypt," "Death 
of Dido," "Triumph of CaBsar," "Peace Driving 
Away the Horrors of War," "Abduction of the Sa- 
bine Women," "Dives in Hell," "The Shipwreck," 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



65 



"The Death of Nelson," "A Fire at Sea," "The 
Destruction of Sodom," "The Siege of Gibraltar." 

LONDON'S GREATEST CURSE. 

The greatest curse in London is the public 
houses — saloons. Street car and omnibus sta- 
tions are often called by the names of the large 
public houses. Here are some of the names you 
will see on your tickets: Queen's Head, Nag's 
Head, Dun Cow, Angel, Green Man's Gate, Ele- 
phant Castle, etc, 

Down along the river near Blackfriars bridge 
is a church located between two of these public 
houses. It is nicknamed "Jesus crucified between 
two thieves." The worst part of it is that the 
church owns and controls both of the saloons. 
When the Church of England engages in such 
awful business it is no wonder that it is powerless 
to reach and save the people. 

IN THE SLUMS AT MIDNIGHT. 

One night two men besides the writer went 
through the slums of the great city. We had left 
all our money and valuables in our rooms and 
provided ourselves each with a police whistle. We 
went into the White Chapel district where "Jack 
the Ripper" had been doing such dastardly work. 
We also went through the "New Jerusalem" and 
other places in the famous East End. 

That was an awful night. We saw people fight • 
ing and dancing and singing and drinking and 
reveling and doing almost every other mean thing. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



In some streets even at midnight we could hardly 
get through on account of the crowds of people. 
This leads us to say that in the judgment of the 
writer of these lines it is the heighth of foolish- 
ness to go into these famous resorts out of a de- 
sire to see the wickedness that is continually going 
on. We felt that it was a good motive that moved 
us to do so, but even that is a poor excuse. It does 
no good and we would gladly blot from our mem- 
ory the scenes of that awful night. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



6T 



CHAPTER VL 

IN THE SHADOW OF MT. VESUVIUS.. 

IT WAS a beautiful July morning that the grea* 
ship Pannonia of the Cunard line, cast her 
anchors in the harbor in the Bay of Naples, Italy. 
This is one of the most interesting spots in a 1 ! 
Europe. The Bay of Naples is 36 miles in circuni 
ference. These great curving arms hold in their 
grasp one of the greatest harbors in the world. 

Yonder to the East, towering 4,000 feet high, 
stands old Mount Vesuvius smoking like a thou- 
sand furnaces. When the apostle Paul passed 
along the coast and landed a few miles to th« 
north, more than 1800 years ago, this mighty 
mountain was threatening heaven with its shafts 
of fire every night. Crouching at the foot of and 
even some distance upon the sides of this old 
mountain are a dozen towns and cities, the largest 
of which is Naples. 

As soon as we were anchored boats of all kind:, 
to the number of about 100 surrounded us. Dagoes 
were here in all their glory — men, women and 
boys. Some with only a few rags on their backs, 
thus appealing to the sympathies of the passen- 
gers, and begging for anything and everything. 
The noise was deafening, boats collapsed, collided 
and fights were frequent. Finally we were safeV 
landed and the populace began their usual custora 
with Americans, viz., trying to skin us. Cabmen 



6.3 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



almost fell over each other or kicked each other 
over trying to make us understand that they 
would take us where we wanted to go very cheap 
(about four prices). Several actually tried to 
take our grips from us to get to carry them. The 
manner of procedure in Naples is as follows: 
One man will take your grip and start you for 
the omnibus — he must be paid. Another will take 
the grip and sit it down by the side of the bus — he 
must have his pay. Another will lift it upon the 
seat — his tip must be forthcoming. The next will 
lift it on the top and his pay is the highest. When 
you reach your destination the whole performance 
is done over again and finally you must pay the 
bus man for the whole thing. If you are leaving 
a hotel and have six pieces of baggage, no matter 
how small they are, they are brought to you by 
six porters and all expect a tip. This is all in 
addition to your already large hotel bill. Now this 
picture may be a little overdrawn but you will not 
think so if you ever visit Naples. 

The city lies almost under the shadow of Old 
Vesuvius. Its streets are narrow but usually 
clean. Many of its inhabitants are poverty strick- 
en and beg for their living. Some of the most dis- 
tressed, deformed and pitiable specimens of hu- 
manity that we ever saw are here. You can hard- 
ly give to them, however, for they are legion. 
The city contains more than 300 churches and of 
course all or nearly all are Catholic. We had a 
Catholic guide one afternoon and he took us 
through some magnificent cathedrals. Saints were 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 69 

everywhere, above, below, throughout; some 
painted, some in sculpture, some in mosiae and 
some just simply made. They are wood, stone, 
marble, plaster paris, lava, iron, copper, brass, 
nickle, silver and gold. Because we did not go 
into extacies over them, our guide was rather dis- 
gusted with us. Finally he said, "Now, mister, 1 
am going to show you ze greatest church in all zf 
city," and he took us to a cathedral that is more 
than 500 years old (he said so and of course it is 
true). In a chapel in that church he, with head 
uncovered, took us very slowly and solemnly to a 
corner and said, "Oh, mister, look! Before you is 
somezing zat is older zan Jesus Christ." It wa? 
a mosaic that represented the Virgin Mary before 
Christ was born. Of course we didn't take much 
stock in that and his look at us made us think of 
that story Mark Twain tells on himself. While 
stopping in Naples Mr. Twain's guide called at the 
hotel for him one morning before he was up, and 
as the guide had forgotten Twain's name he under- 
took the describe him to the landlord. After tell- 
ing about the size, color of hair, etc., the landlord 
could not think who he meant, and asked that he 
describe him still more. After studying a moment 
the guide said, "Well, if you have the biggest foo' 
that ever come to Naples stopping with you, it is 
him." 

There are a good many places of interest in the 
city, but of course we cannot describe them all. 
Among the poorer classes all are bare- 
headed, barefooted and in some cases bare a 1 ! 



70 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



over. We have seen men and women hitched to 
great carts like oxen, bearing burdens like camels 
and kicking each other like mules. The dairymen 
drive flocks of goats through the streets, stopping 
at houses and milking a pint or quart as the cus - 
tomer wants. We like a glass of milk occasionally 
in the United States, but please excuse us in 
Naples. 

Before leaving the city of Naples, we will look 
around a little. In the western part of the city is 
the Tomb of Virgil and several other places of 
classic fame. A little farther out is the place 
where the Apostle Paul landed when on his way to 
Eome a prisoner. The place used to be called 
Puteoli. 

One writer gives such a beautiful description of 
the arrival of the ship that brought the great 
apostle to the Gentiles that we give it to our read- 
ers as Brother Sweeney has it in his splendid 
book "Under Ten Flags. ,, "The idlers of Puteoli 
were already crowding to the pier to watch the 
arrival of the cornship from Alexandria. So we 
may safely infer, from a varied and descriptive 
letter preserved among the correspondence of the 
philosopher, Seneca. He says that all ships round • 
ing into the bay were obliged to strike their top- 
sail with the exception of the Alexandrian corn 
ships, which were thus easily recognized as soon 
as they hove in sight. And then he proceeds to 
moralize upon the gathering and crowding of the 
people of Puteoli to watch these vessels coming in. 
Thus we are furnished with new circumstances to 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



71 



aid our efforts to realize the arrival of the Castoi 
and Pollux on the coast of Italy with St. Paul on 
board. * * * The Italian Christians had long 
been looking for a visit from the famous apostle, 
though they had not been expecting to see him 
arrive thus, a prisoner in chains, hardly escaping 
shipwreck. But these sufferings would only draw 
their hearts more closely toward him. They 
earnestly besought him to stay some days with 
them, and Julius was able to allow this request to 
be complied with." 

Near here is the place where Hadrian starved 
himself to death that it might be recorded that the 
doctors killed him ; the "Elysian fields," which are 
now a richly cultivated tract of vineyards and 
gardens; the "Port Cumae," where were pur- 
chased the Sibyline books that were preserved 
through many ages as the most precious relics in 
the capitol at Rome. 

A visit to the Museum is of great interest. Here 
are nearly all the relics which have been found in 
Pompeii, also most wonderful statuary made by 
famous sculptors; marvelous paintings and beau- 
tiful mosaics; a model of the whole city of Pom- 
peii showing every room that has been excavated. 
In this museum are vast collections of frescoes, 
paintings, etc., which are priceless. 

It is interesting to watch the letter writers 
which are found in many parts of the city. As but 
a small per cent of the people can read and write, 
the professional letter writer is in demand. Here 
perhaps is a young man dictating a letter to his 



72 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



sweetheart ; his face will color from time to time 
as he looks about imagining that every passerby 
knows the very things that are in his heart. 

When we return to Naples in a few months we 
will visit Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii, the resur- 
rected city, which is one of the saddest yet most 
interesting ruins in the world. We will now 
start to Egypt, going in the track of the Apostle 
Paul as he came to Rome. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



73 



CHAPTER VII. 

IN THE TRACK OF AN APOSTLE. 

fT WAS a relief to get away from the beggars of 
Naples. It is said that three people starve to 
death in this city every day in the year. Going 
aboard a large Italian ship we were attracted by 
a company of boys near the ship diving to the bot- 
tom for a piece of money. Passengers would throw 
a copper into the water and these boys would dive 
for it. Little fellows not more than nine or ten 
would bring up the piece of money in their teeth 
nearly every time. 

Making a tour of the ship we could not find a 
single person who could speak English. The cap- 
tain knew a word or two and we had quite a time 
trying to teach him a few English phrases. 
Strange that foreigners think the English lan- 
guage is so hard to learn. By the way, if one 
knows the French language they can get along 
fairly well in any of these countries. Just imag- 
ine how lonely we felt. Not a person with whom 
we could converse. We spent several days without 
being able to talk to anyone and that is unpleasant 
to say the least. 

As the great ship moved out of the harbor we 
were soon on the track of the Apostle Paul. He 
came up from Malta on the Castor and Pollox, a 
cornship from Alexandria. He landed but a few 
miles from Naples and spent seven days there 



74 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



before going to Rome. The coast of Italy with old 
Mt, Vesuvius in the background looked very beau- 
tiful that day. 

We arrived at Messina the next morning and 
spent a portion of the day there. Messina used to 
be called Zancle, which means Sickle. It was so 
named from the shape of the neck of land upon 
which a portion of the city was built. At that 
time Messina was a great city. It was well built 
with quite a regularity in the arrangement of its 
streets and buildings. 

The pride of the city was its Quay, which 
stretched along its shore for more than a mile and 
back of which was a range of lofty buildings of 
uniform architecture and three stories high. On 
this wharf we saw great loads of merchandise of 
all kinds, which was being hauled away on great 
wagons and carts, mostly drawn by oxen. 

THE CITY THAT WAS DOOMED. 

The most interesting building in Messina was 
the Cathedral, which was begun in the year 1098 
A. D. Tradition says the Messinese were con- 
verted to Christianity by the preaching of the 
Apostle Paul, and that he wrote a letter to the 
Virgin Mary at Jerusalem, who took the city under 
her special protection and wrote them a comfort- 
ing letter, telling them about it. As this letter 
was written in Hebrew, Paul translated it into 
Greek for them, and in this Cathedral was a copy 
•of the letter in large guilt letters. Now you can 
believe all of the above mentioned tradition you 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 75 

like but no Messinese ever doubted one word of it, 
and they have even kept a record of the marvelous 
cures effected by its wonder-working influence. In 
a small chapel in connection with this Cathedral 
the devout were edified by a sight of St. Paul's 
arm, some of St. Luke's body, Mary Magdalene's 
skull and a lock of the Virgin's hair. Wonderful, 
wasn't it? 

An inspiring sight was several hundred soldiers 
parading the streets of the city. We could not 
learn the meaning of this most beautiful military 
display. A sad sight was the taking from the ship 
three prisoners, handcuffed and chained to each 
other. All three, we were told, had either com- 
mitted or attempted murder, and were doomed to 
spend the rest of their days at hard labor. As 
their chains rattled, we thought of that notable 
prisoner, who, chained to the Roman soldiers, as 
he was when passing through this narrow strip 
of water, only a few rods from the identical spot. 
Looking across to the village of Regium we almost 
imagined that we could see him, as he told the 
story of the cross, the day he spent there more 
than 1800 years ago. 

Here for the first time, we were asked for our 
passport, and when the official saw the seal of 
Uncle Sam, they nodded their heads. We did not 
tell them the passport was only good for two 
years, and was already more than four years old, 
but they wouldn't have known what we were talk- 
ing about had we tried to do so. It is a good thing 



76 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



to not be able to speak in a foreign tongue once \v 
a while, you know. 

To think that the great city of Messina is in 
ruins and will never be rebuilt is almost unimagin - 
able. Yet they tell us that even the great Cathed 
ral is nothing but a pile of ruins and the city o.* 
Reggio across the strait, is almost completely de- 
stroyed. 

HALTING AT SYRACUSE. 

Leaving Messina we are soon not far from 
Syracuse which is worth a little attention. Here 
lived Archimedes, a hero of ancient story who 
discovered a law by which he could tell whether 
the goldsmith, who was to make a crown of gold, 
was using alloy instead of the real metal. He 
made the discovery while in his bath and was 
so overjoyed that he ran out without dressing 
himself, explaining, "I have found it! I have 
found it!" (Eureka, Eureka). This same man 
invented the lever by means of which he could 
reach out over the wall and destroy a ship an- 
chored in the harbor. He boasted that if he had a 
fulcrum or standpoint he could move the world. 
To him is ascribed the invention of the great 
burning glass and with it he set fire to ships 
of the enemy that were lying anchored in the 
harbor; the invention of the endless water screw 
is credited to this same hero. 

It is said that when the Romans took Syracuse, 
Archimedes was sitting in the public square lost 
in thought with all sorts of geometrical figures 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



77 



about him. As a Roman soldier rushed upon him 
the great genius called out to him not to spoil the 
circle, but the rude warrior cut him down with- 
out mercy. Such was the condition of life in Syra- 
cuse when Paul spent three days within its bor- 
ders, a Roman prisoner. 

As we journey on we probably pass through 
the waters where a ship was going to pieces near- 
ly 1900 years ago. On this occasion the awful 
storm raged for fourteen days and nights and no 
one except those who have experienced it know 
the perils of a storm on the Mediterranean Sea. 
On board the ship in that awful storm were 276 
persons, but among them was one of the greatest 
heroes the world has ever known. We have often 
thought we would rather stand before God with 
his record than that of any other man that ever 
lived. He was not only the hero of the occasion, 
but the savior of that great company of people 
Had they not followed his advice, unloubtedk 
all would have been lost. It was his words of 
cheer that gave them hope for they had given up. 
He, although a prisoner, was now the captain of 
the ship. When the officers had under pretense 
lowered a boat, intending to leave the ship and 
its helpless load of humanity, and escape, Paul 
said, " Except these abide in the ship ye cannot 
be saved." The soldiers enforced his commands 
and the officers remained and all were saved. If 
you will read the twenty-seventh chapter of the 
"Acts of the Apostles" you will have one of the 
best accounts of a ship wreck that has ever been 
written. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



MALTA. 

Yonder is the island of Malta or Melita, where 
Paul and the great company of ship wrecked peo- 
ple, who had lost all they had, remained three 
months. As they reached the shore, some on 
boards and some on broken pieces of the ship, the 
barbarous people gathered around them. These 
were kind-hearted people, for they kindled a fire 
and did their best to assist the unfortunates. A 
cold rain was falling and they gathered a great 
pile of sticks and soon had a rousing fire. The 
Apostle Paul never stood around while others 
worked (a good example for twentieth century 
ministers) and soon he too had a bundle of sticks, 
but as he laid them on the fire a viper fastened 
itself upon his hand. He at once shook oiT the 
poisonous reptile into the fire and felt no harm. 

The above mentioned incident gives us a glimpse 
of the superstition of the age. When the barbar- 
ians saw the snake fastening its fangs upon the 
apostle they thought he was a devil and said 
among themselves, "No doubt this man is a mur- 
derer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet 
vengeance suffereth not to live." When they saw 
that he was not harmed they changed their minds 
and said that he was a god. In another chapter 
we will recount some of Paul's experiences with 
these people and mention some of the tradition* 
@f his visit that have come down to us. 

PAUL'S THREE MONTHS AT MALTA. 

A visit from some men brings a benedictie* 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY, 



from heaven. Such was the result of Paul's thre# 
months' stay on the island of Malta. If you were 
to visit the place today where the Alexandrian 
ship was wrecked you would find that the very 
place is called St. Paul's Bay. On a little island 
stands a lighthouse as a beacon light for other 
ship-wrecked mariners. 

Paul's visit changed the destiny of the whole 
island. His three months' stay was enough to 
win the people to Christ. The beginning of his 
work was auspicious. We mentioned the viper 
episode in the last chapter. This was followed 
by an incident of no more less importance. Pub- 
lius was the chief man of the island. The scrip- 
ture so states. A few years ago an old inscription 
was found upon the island that confirms the state- 
ment. The father of Publius was at the point of 
death. When Paul ministered to him and prayed, 
he was restored to health. 

The news of this remarkable cure was carried 
by swift messengers to the farthermost corners 
of the island. Every sick person on the island 
was brought to the great healer and Luke's skill 
as a physician and Paul's prayers never failed to 
cure. In this way those men of God had an oppor- 
tunity to preach Christ. Our foreign missionary 
workers have learned a lesson from this incident 
and today we have seventeen hospitals for the 
sick on the foreign fields and last year nearly 
130,000 patients were treated. 

Tradition tells us that the Maltese were corn- 
verted to Christianity during those three month*. 



80 LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 

Chrysostom mentions this fact. Many Christian 
monograms and inscriptions have been found that 
bear silent testimony to this work. The tombs 
and subterranean cemeteries are said to be ar- 
ranged like the Christian cemeteries in the cate- 
comlbs of Rome. Do you think Paul had nothing 
to do with it? Tradition also says that these 
tombs and catecombs were used by the Maltese 
Christians in times of persecution. We might 
tell you something about the order of Knights of 
St. John and this island, but will not take the 
time or space to do so. 

As we journey on toward Egypt we are inter- 
ested in the worship of the Mohammedans on 
board the ship. At the hour of prayer they turn 
their faces toward the East and prostrate them- 
selves again and again repeating this one prayer : 
' 'There is no God but God, and Mohamet is his 
prophet." They repeat this sentence in a sort of 
a chant again and again. These people are so 
devout that they will stop everything at the hour 
of prayer. We have seen the merchant stop his 
trade, the boatman lay down his oars, the laborer 
stop his work on the street, in the shop, every- 
where at the call for prayer. It matters not how 
dirty and filthy their clothing may be they are 
careful to wash their hands and feet and face 
three times a day. 

Ob our ship was a number of these devout 
religionists on their way to Mecca. They were 
barefooted and poverty stricken. We talked with 
them through an interpreter. Among other things 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



81 



we asked them why they were going to Mecca 
when it was not required of them. The answer 
was beautiful. The spokesman said: "We are 
willing to leave our loved ones in our home coun- 
try and go over the burning sands of the desert, 
over rocks and mountains barefooted, leaving 
blood in every track; we are willing to endure 
every hardship of the long journey, because we 
believe it will please the great Mohamet." These 
people shame the Christian people again and 
again by their almost unparalleled devotion. 



$2 



LANDS OF SACREB ISTOBY. 



CHAPTER VIIL 

THE FRONT DOOR OF EGYPT. 

a FTER a delightful voyage of a thousand miles 
on the Mediterranean Sea, we landed at 
Alexandria early Sunday morning. After the moat 
rigid examination of baggage we ever saw, to say 
nothing of looking at passports, (they didn't dis- 
cover that ours was out of date, however) we were 
finally set free, but too late for church service for 
which we were sorry. 

The beautiful city of Alexandria was founded 
by Alexander the Great, who, it is said, traced 
the plan of the city with his own hand. The city 
is called the Front Door of Egypt. The famous 
lighthouse which was called one of the seven won- 
ders of the world, was located here. It was 40© 
feet high and so constructed that a team of horses 
could be driven to its summit. It was this build- 
ing that the architect chiseled his own name in 
stone and placed it upon top of the carving with 
the king's name in piaster. Soon the storms 
caused the plaster to fall off and then the name of 
the builder was visible. 

Pempey's Pillar is about the only monument of 
antiquity to be seen at the present time. It is a 
shaft of red granite, and including the founda- 
tion upon which it stands is 99 feet high. It is 
wrongly named, for it is said that Diocletian was 
s© enraged at the stubborn resistance of the ciii- 



LANDS OP SACRED STORY. 8$ 

Eens, he swore that when he captured them h& 
would put them to death until blood was upon his 
horses' knees. While the massacre was in 
progress his horse stumbled and fell causing its 
knees to be covered with blood and he inferred 
from this that he had punished them sufficiently 
and stopped the massacre. In honor of his clem- 
ency this pillar was erected. 

Hypatia who is reputed to be the greatest fe- 
male lecturer the world has ever seen, lived in 
this city. Julius Caesar conquered the world, but 
here lived the woman that conquered Julius 
Caesar, Cleopatra the beautiful. It was also the 
home of Apollos and it was the Jews from this 
place that caused the stoning of Steven. Simon 
of Cyrene also lived near here and according to 
tradition St. Mark here met his death, being 
dragged to pieces through the streets of the city. 

The greatest library of antiquity was here, but 
mostly destroyed by the Arabs who heated the 
4,000 baths for six months by feeding the fires 
with costly rolls. The seventy here translated 
the Old Testament into Greek 300 years before 
' Christ and this translation is called the Septuagint 
or Seventy. Also near here was found the famous 
Rosetta stone in 1799, which gave the key to the 
Egyptian Hieroglyphics. 

Alexandria was for awhile the home of Omar, 
the one who succeeded Mahomet as ruler of the 
Moslems. It is said this man built fourteen hun- 
dred temples and thirty-five thousand villages and 
castles yet came to this city riding on the back of 



84 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



a camel with a sack of corn, a sack of figs and a 
wooden plate — all he had saved for himself. 

Two of about the longest days the author ever 
spent were in the city of Alexandria. It was sev- 
eral weeks after this first visit. We were alone 
and sick in bed in a hotel where there was not a 
person who could speak English. If you have 
ever been far from home, without a single ac- 
quaintance and where a language is spoken that 
you cannot understand and then dangerously ill, 
you can imagine how long and weary the hours 
seemed to be. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



35 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE PLAYGROUND OF MOSES. 
HE DISTANCE from Alexandria to Cairo is 



1 130 miles and the road is through one of the 
most productive countries on the globe. The people 
seem to be industrious and were threshing wheat 
hoeing cotton, irrigating, making brick and doing 
almost every kind of work. They are thousands 
of years behind the times as they use the same 
kind of plows and the same methods of threshing 
that were used in Bible times. The Nile is the 
life of Egypt and is truly a great river. Upon its 
yearly overflow depends everything that tends 
to the prosperity of this country. The whole 
country is a network of canals which are used 
for irrigating purposes. 

We were happily disappointed with Cairo. From 
what is seen at the world's fairs one is led to 
think that it is an old dirty, filthy city with very 
narrow streets, but it is not the case. It is true 
that old Cairo is dirty and filthy, but modern 
Cairo is a city with many broad streets which are 
well paved, and a great many magnificent build- 
ings and most beautiful gardens. There are some 
of as fine hotels as you can find in most any Amer- 
ican city. We were also surprised at the large 
number of intelligent and wealthy people. With 
all its wickedness it will not compare with New 
York or Chicago. We have seen several copies of 




LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



the Egyptian Gazette, one of the leading news- 
papers, and have not yet seen an account of a 
single murder or suicide or crime of any kind. 
Cut crime of all description out of one of the 
American dailies and you won't have much left 
but advertisements. 

The greatest collection of monuments and ob- 
jects of antiquity in the world is in the new 
museum in Cairo. Little did old Pharoah think 
that the descendants of the people he had under 
the lash would point the finger of scorn at his face 
in 4,000 years, but it is true. Here are mummies 
of a great many kings and great men of ancient 
times, an innumerable number of statues made of 
wood, stone, iron and bronze; idols of every de- 
scription ; all kinds of vessels and implements that 
were in use thousands of years ago. 

Having rode on horses, on street cars, in cabs 
and carriages, we could not be satisfied without a 
donkey ride in Cairo. Some one has said that the 
donkey is the greatest thing in Egypt. He is 
horse, carriage, cart, burden-bearer and express 
train combined. From the time you land in Egypt 
until you embark again, you are surrounded by 
half -naked Arabs who at the top of their voices, 
praise the donkeys. 

On the first day of our sojourn in Cairo we met 
an Arab who showed us his splendid donkey 
whose name was Yankee Doodle, Well we en- 
gaged this man and his steed for the next after- 
noon. They were to call at the Hotel Bristol 
promptly at 2 o'clock. We really didn't know 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



87 



whether to depend upon this wily Arab or not, but 
at the appointed time he put in appearance and 
was determined to charge more than we had 
agreed upon the day before. We told him we 
would not go at all and then he said "All right, 
we go." After making our bargain over again he 
brought us to another man whom he said was his 
driver. After giving him to understand that if 
he would not take us himself our bargain was off. 
He said, "All right, we go sure/' When we in- 
quired for Yankee Doodle he said he was around 
on the other side of the park. 

Finally all things were ready and we started 
down the street on a gallop, our guide keeping 
apace and slashing Yankee Doodle at almost every 
jump, which speed did not last long, however, as 
the weather was very hot. First we were taken 
through old Cairo and having only seen modern 
Cairo as yet we were much surprised at the dirty, 
filthy, narrow, ill-smelling streets. We saw little 
children with face and eyes literally covered with 
flies and the hovels in which they exist are filthy 
beyond description. Yankee Doodle had to pick 
his way through some streets to keep from step- 
ping upon men, women and children fast asleep. 
In some streets some were fighting, some smoking, 
a few working and all yelling. 

Soon we passed into a more respectable street 
and met a wedding procession. This was led by 
a hilarious band, then came the carriage in which 
were the parents of the groom, which was fol- 
lowed by a carriage which was entirely covered 



88 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



over with a cloth and in which was the bride, 
while the groom walked at its side with hand 
tightly clutching the vehicle; the third carriage 
contained the parents and some relatives of the 
bride and this was followed by a great crowd of 
uncles, aunts, cousins, friends and hangers on all 
yelling at the top of their voices. It was an amus- 
ing spectacle. At the house where a wedding 
takes place, our guide informed us, a flag is hung 
out so one can pick out these joyous homes as we 
pass through the streets. 

Soon we came to the head of the old aqueduct 
which was built nearly 400 years ago and until 
recently was used to supply the city with water 
from the Nile. In this massive building were the 
great water-wheels used for raising the water. 
Nov/ we left Yankee Doodle in the hands of an- 
other and crossed in a boat to the island of Rhoda. 
Here we were shown the famous Nilometer, a 
building which dates from 715 A. D., and in which 
is a stone column which marks the rise of the 
river Nile. Next we were shown the exact spot 
( ?) where Moses was found among the bul- 
brushes. after which we were taken to the won- 
der-working virgin tree under which Joseph and 
Mary dwelt during their sojourn in Egypt. This 
tree which we suppose is about two or three cen- 
turies old is tied full of strings or rags, all of 
which have come from sick persons and have 
been exchanged for two leaves which have been 
applied to the afflicted part and our guide assured 
us that a cure always resulted. Now we crossed 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



89 



back and were held up for enough to pay the fel- 
low who held the donkey. We forgot to mention 
that we had to pay thirty cents for the privilege 
of visiting the island and the boatmen heaped 
curses upon us for not giving them a good sized 
fee for their trouble. Such is life in Egypt how- 
ever, and it is said to be impossible to satisfy the 
populace with enough backsheesh. This is the 
first word most children are taught to utter and 
generally the last word that falls from the lips 
of many who are just departing for another world. 
Now this last may not be true but we are sure 
about the correctness of the first part of the state- 
ment. 

THE PYRAMIDS. 

Of course we must visit the Pyramids. Board- 
ing a tram car we were soon near the magnificent 
bridge, the only bridge that spans the Nile at 
Cairo. For about two hours each day this bridge 
is opened to allow the boats of which there are 
usually a large number, to pass through. Now 
our understanding was that this bridge was closed 
at two o'clock, but found that it was not until two- 
thirty, so we spent a half hour watching this most 
interesting proceeding. Finally the last boat was 
through and the men began to turn the bridge. 
They do this by hand and it takes fifteen or twenty 
minutes. Just before the bridge was in place we 
discovered we were in a close place — back as far 
as we could see were great crowds of donkeys, 
camels, carts, wagons, cabs and people of every 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



inscription and now we who were nearest the 
bridge were being crowded to suffocation. Offi- 
cers were there with clubs and yelling at the top 
©f their voices but every moment the jam became 
worse. A few climbed over the chain and the 
©ffieer seemed to avoid us but his club swung dan- 
gerously near. 

Finally the chain was loosed and such a rush 
we never saw— we were sure people would be 
trampled to death. Of course everybody ran and 
we kept up with the swiftest until we noticed 
that the crowd had been loosed at the other end 
of the bridge at the same time and the scene look- 
ed like the pictures of two armies about to meet. 
We now slacked our pace and got close to the side 
and thus kept on our feet. It was a great ex- 
perience and while were were glad we went 
through, we have no desire to repeat the experi- 
ence. 

Boarding a trolly car the distance of eight miles 
to the foot of the Pyramids was soon passed over. 
The road is beautiful and large trees are along 
©n both sides. Stepping from the car we were 
surrounded by the Arabs. They were a very 
fierce looking set and we had a hard time to get 
away from them. One big fellow refused to be 
driven away and as he could speak good English 
we let him follow but told him distinctly that we 
would not hire him. On reaching the Pyramid 
the Shiek said we must buy tickets and as they 
<©nly cost twenty-five cents each we bought one. 
This ticket really calls for a guide and the big fel- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



it 



Jew kept at our heels saying he would protect us 
and he drove all the balance away. They soon 
came back, however, one man with a donkey and 
another with a camel. 

The great Pyramid is the tomb of Cheops, the 
second king of the fourth dynasty and is a won- 
der indeed. It is 451 feet high, 755 feet long and 
covers an area of 6,444 square yards or about 13 
acres. It is truly a "Miracle in Stone." It was 
2,000 years old when Christ was born. Herodotus 
says it took ten years to build the causeway upon 
which the stones were brought from the quarries. 
The same author says it took twenty years to build 
this one Pyramid and that 100,000 men worked 
mpon it at once. It was scientifically and mathe- 
matically constructed long before either science 
or mathematics were born. In all the 4,000 years 
since it was built it is said that not one single fact 
in astronomy or mathematics has been discovered 
to contradict the wisdom of this structure. The 
•ne who planned it must have known that the 
•arth is a sphere and that its motion is rotary. 
As we stood in the shade of this mighty monu- 
ment and looked at the massive stones some of 
which are thirty feet long and are fitted without 
mortar so true that a knife blade can hardly be 
forced between the cracks, it seemed that we were 
dreaming. Looking down across the desert one 
©an see where Napoleon rode at the head of his 
army saying, "Soldiers, remember that forty cen- 
turies are now looking down upon you." 

There is a passage way into the interior of the 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



structure which leads to the great halls, King's 
Chamber and Queen's Chamber. Although the 
passage way was narrow, the heat intense, the 
air impure and as dark as midnighc, we could 
hardly resist the temptation to enter but as we 
were alone we thought it might not be wise to do 
so. The Arabs kept continually asking the time of 
day, but we knew all they cared for was to see 
the watch we carried and you may be sure they 
did not see it. We bluffed them so that they 
seemed afraid, but we did not know at what mo- 
ment they might overpower or rob us. 

There are seventy-seven Pyramids all together 
but only six or seven are in this vicinity, the others 
being several miles up the Nile. The second is 
almost as large as the first and the third is very 
large. The others are small in comparison. Be- 
side each Pyramid is the ruins of an old temple 
and we saw several broken statues lying around 
which were once worshipped as gods. 

We have already mentioned the fact that these 
monuments are all tombs of kings. At the begin- 
ning of his reign a king would begin to build and 
the longer the reign the larger the pyramid and at 
his death his embalmed body was placed in a secret 
tomb chamber and the pyramid closed against 
everyone. Each monument had its name, usually 
some epithet applying to rest in the future life, 
such as "The Good Heaven/' "The Rising," "The 
Most Enduring Place," etc. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



THE SPHINX. 

About one-fourth mile to the southeast of the 
great pyramid lies crouched in the sands of the 
desert, the Sphinx which is also upwards of 4,000 
years old. The sight of this ancient face of stone 
is very impressive. The body of this stone mon- 
ster is 150 feet long, paws are 50 feet and head 
30 feet long. The mouth is seven feet and the face 
fourteen feet v/ide. The sand has so much en- 
crouched on the monument that its form is very 
much buried. We read in the Egyptian Gazette 
that a company of influential men of Cairo has 
been formed for the purpose of cleaning away 
the sand from this great monument. It will cost 
about $20,000 and two men are now on the way 
to the United States to raise the money. Strange 
isn't it, that America must furnish money for 
everything of this kind. A great many residents 
of Egypt live off the American tourists and if we 
had our way the whole tipping system would soon 
be stopped and the people be compelled to work for 
their living, which would be far better for them. 
Speaking of tips reminds us that we found one 
man in Naples who guided us to a place we wanted 
to find and positively refused to accept a tip. We 
were so surprised that we actually shook hands 
with him, and although we could not understand a 
word of each other's language, he seemed muck 
surprised. 

Across the way from the Sphinx is an Arab 
eemetery. By this time we were very tired and 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



as the old Sheik was still tempting us to ride hit 
camel we made a bargain with him. Now Mrs. 
Nichols had warned us against riding a camel, 
saying that we would fall off and break our neck 
and when the great beast went to get up with us 
on its back, her words came to mind with great 
force. However, we held on for dear life and 
when the fellow got up we were all right. Around 
the big pyramid we went on this "ship of the des- 
ert" and down to the street car where the greatest 
ordeal of all was still to go through—that of 
settling with guide Sheik, donkey boy. Finally 
after much tribulation we got aboard the car and 
went back to Cairo satisfied with the afternoon's 
sights. 

You will no doubt be interested in a few words 
about the "American Mission" at Cairo, Egypt. It 
is controlled by the United Presbyterian church 
of America and they are doing a great work. Like 
the waters of the river Nile upon which it is lo- 
cated, its influence permeates almost the whole 
land. These excellent people have fifty-three 
organized congregations, sixty-four native pastors 
and evangelists and 7,324 members in the lands 
of the Pharoahs. These missions are also en- 
gaged in mission work, and last year they gave 
$24,999 for religious objects, which is an average 
of $3.36 per member. Think of that, ye disciplei 
in the great country of ours, surrounded by wealth 
and prosperity, and remember that nearly every 
one of these people are poor and many of them 
almost poverty stricken. These people also have 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



151 Sunday schools in which are 1,000 scholars, 
and last year these schools raised more than 
$1,000. At the mission we were presented wi\h 
the Gospel of Matthew in Arabic and some verr 
small coins, worth one, one-half, one-fourth, one- 
eighth and one-sixteenth of a cent in our money. 
These small coins, we were told, are hardly ever 
used, except in church collections. Having a let- 
ter of introduction to Rev. Ewing, a minister in 
Cairo, we called at his home, but found that he 
was out of the city. His good wife called at our 
hotel with a carriage and gave us a delightful 
drive over the city. Mr. and Mrs. Ewing have 
been in Cairo forty years and during that time 
the city has been transformed from a little, dirty 
town into the magnificent city that it is today. 

It is interesting to know that the largest school 
in the world in point of number of students, is 
located at Cairo. It is the great Moslem Uni- 
versity and has about 15,000 students. 

In Egynt, robbery used to be licensed and gov- 
erned by law. The chief of the robbers received 
all the sr>oil and to whom the victimized citizem 
went and paid a certain per cent of the value of 
the article and received his property again and 
the original burglar and chief divided profits. 
We laugh at this, but how about licensing the 
taloon ? 

Our stay in Cairo was pleasant indeed. There 
are 265 Mosques in Cairo and we visited quite a 
number of them. At the door slippers are pro- 
vided. No one is allowed to step inside of one of 



86 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



these buildings without the slippers. The floor is 
to them "Holy ground." Attendants will always 
care for you and of course they expect a tip. 

It is sad to see the women of Egypt. It mat- 
ters not how warm the day, their faces are al- 
ways covered. It looks very uncomfortable to 
see them wearing heavy veils. The plague of 
flies has never ceased in Egypt. We saw little 
children, helpless and carried about and many 
times their faces were black with flies. 

Leaving Cairo at 10 :45 at night we arrived at 
Alexandria at 6 o'clock in the morning and as 
our ship was to sail at 9, did not have long to 
wait. On account of the Bubonic plague all 
through lower Egypt, Syria quarantines against 
it. No other country pays any attention to it. The 
quarantine is more to skin the people than to pre- 
vent the disease. The Turkish' officers are very 
strict and we have "red tape" by the bolt. Before 
embarking at Alexandria all had to go to the 
quarantine office and go through quite a perform- 
ance which simply amounts to getting permission 
from them to leave Egypt. Once on board all must 
be examined by the ship's physicians. No person 
is allowed to travel in Palestine, Syria and Turkey 
without a Teschera (a Turkish passport) and 
knowing that such a document could be secured 
from the Egyptian government, one of the first 
things in order was to secure one. Now the best 
way for an American to secure this is to go to 
the American consul and have him viza, or en- 
dorse his passport and take it to the Governor 



LANDS OF SACKED STORY. 



97 



of Cairo, who will issue the said instrument. As 
already mentioned in a former chapter, our pass- 
port was out of date. Our consul said he would 
issue a new one for $2.00, but we told him no (you 
see he wanted the $2.00). Said he could not viza 
an old one, when we said that all we wanted was 
a letter from him to the Governor of Cairo stating 
that we were an American citizen and the old 
passport would serve to identify us as well as 
though it were a new one. Finally he gave us the 
desired letter and we went on our way rejoicing. 
Calling at the office of Thos. Cook & Son they told 
us the Governor's office was hard to find and that 
we had better take a cab and to assist us they 
would call one and direct the cabman where to 
take us. Now we are coming to the point — the 
cabman took us in exactly the opposite direction 
and put us off at the door of a great building, say- 
ing in broken English, "here is the governor's 
office." We paid him and of course he departed at 
once. We soon discovered the mistake, went back 
to Cook's and complained to them and they only 
laughed, saying they would give the cabman a 
good talking to. After that you may be sure that 
we called our own cabs and made our own bar- 
gains. The only time in all this journey that we 
were overcharged was by this great company and 
we have no use for them. 



98 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER X. 

EGYPT TO SYRIA. 

THE JOURNEY from Alexandria to Beyrout, 
Syria, was made on a large Italian vessel. 
The weather was delightful. The ship's officers 
were kind but none of them could speak English. 
You would have laughed had you seen the author 
trying to converse with the Captain of the ship. 

Arriving at Beyrout, Syria, our ship had to fly 
the yellow flag and you know what that means. 
Stopping out in the bay, men with yellow braid 
on their uniforms boarded the ship. They were 
Turkish guards. They were to keep close watch, 
and as a boat came near they would run and yell 
unclean, unclean, quarantine, or words that mean 
the same in Arabic. Then another boat came with 
some dignitaries ( ?) who consulted with the cap- 
tain and then went back to land. Now our sail- 
ors lower boats and first take the mail to port, 
then hustle all third class passengers off to the 
quarantine station on land where they are prac- 
tically insulted and robbed. All first and second 
class passengers can remain on board if they 
choose. Next comes the physician who examines 
and counts the crew; for a wonder he don't pay 
much attention to the passengers. Next came an- 
other dignified official who collects 10 piastres 
(50 cents) from each one, that being the govern- 
ment tax. Next came a boat with five big bas- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



99 



kets full of sulphur and fumigating apparatus. 
The only part of the ship they did not fumigate 
was the part that needed it most, viz., the berths. 
We were nicely entertained every night by a large 
number of little beings, commonly called bed- 
bugs. They almost carried us around the room. 
After the fumigating process we were left to our- 
selves and now no one ventured near us for a 
long time. 

QUARANTINED. 

Strange as it may seem we enjoyed the forty- 
eight hours spent in quarantine in the Syrian 
harbor. The great city of Beyrout is built around 
the bay and at night looks like a great amphi- 
theatre. The background is the hills and farther 
back the mountains of Lebanon and the lights of 
the villages at night make a beautiful picture. 

We had fine times with Mr. Alcuser, the con- 
verted Jew, which we mentioned in a former 
chapter. Several Mohammedans were on board 
and it was interesting to watch them in their de- 
votions. We had those on board who had be- 
friended us in many ways although some of them 
could not speak a word of the English language. 

Just here we will pause long enough to say that 
if a man shows himself friendly he will find 
friends everywhere. This is a mighty good old 
world after all. People generally find what they 
are looking for. The author has traveled nearly 
a41 over our own land and in about a dozen for- 
eign lands and we want to say that never in these 



\ 



100 LANDS OF SACKED STORY. 

travels to our knowledge has a single woman 
made improper signs to us in anyway. We want 
to say this for the glory of womanhood. The 
women of all lands are not so bad as some would 
have you believe. 

There were three lady missionaries on board 
and they invited us to tea with them on deck in 
the afternoon. It is needless to say that a pleas- 
ant hour was spent. These missionaries were 
English ladies and employed by the Church of 
England. Although their doctrines and practice 
are different from ours yet our work is the same, 
viz., trying to get people to live lives modeled after 
the Perfect Life. The greatest hindrance to mis- 
sionary work in all of these lands is the sad fact 
that Christians are divided and called by differ- 
ent names. The earnest prayer of nearly every 
lioiiary is that the time will soon come when 
party names and creeds will be abandoned and 
God's people united in name, creed, doctrine and 
life, Ever since we have been in the ministry 
it has been a mystery to us how good people could 
uphold divisions and teach that denominations are 
God. appointed and beneficial in Christian work. 

When the hour drew near for us to be released 
from quarantine our ship was surrounded with 
small boats to land the passengers, as we were 
about one half mile from shore. Having a land- 
ing ticket, we were able to get to shore a half hour 
earlier than the other passengers. The Turkish 
passport which we secured in Cairo was absolutely 
necessary, for it is asked for on every hand. Our 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



101 



name, description, nationality, age, etc., was re- 
corded upon their books as soon as we landed. 

BEYROUT. 

The city of Beyrout ha; a population of 150,000 
and is most beautiful when one looks at it from a 
long distance. Its streets are narrow, crooked 
and dusty. One of the best institutions of the 
city is the Syrian Protestant College which has 
several magnificent buildings and more than 700 
students. Our Jewish friend mentioned above 
will attend school there next year and we visited 
the institution together, and were delighted with 
what we saw there. 

Having a letter of introduction to Dr. Waldei- 
mier at Asfurgeh, a few miles from Beyrout, who 
is superintendent of the Lebanon hospital for the 
insane, we drove over to see him and were royally 
entertained by him and his good wife. This is 
the only asylum for the insane in all Syria and 
surely the man who could overcome the obstacles 
to establish such an institution in this Turkish 
country deserves much praise. 

The insane in Syria are exposed to great cruel- 
ties by the monks and others who profess to have 
power over evil spirits. Dark caves and chains, the 
lash and other abominations were a common treat- 
ment. For nineteen years this good man planned 
and worked before he was able to begin this estab- 
lishment and he has been greatly blessed. He 
now has thirty-nine acres of ground mostly cov- 
ered with olive and fig trees. There are several 



102 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



buildings and they now have sixty-five patients. 
A walk through the spacious buildings makes one 
very sad to see the unfortunate creatures, but 
glad they are well taken care of and to know 
that many of them are on the road to recovery. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



103 



CHAPTER XL 

DAMASCUS. 

ATRIP TO Damascus is worth the while. 
Leaving our friend the Jew, in Beyrout, we 
made the journey alone. It is about 100 miles 
from Beyrout to Damascus but it takes 9 hours to 
make the journey by train. To get a ticket was no 
small task for it was a holiday and hundreds were 
going to the mountains. Once on board the train 
we found a small apartment in which about eight 
persons could be fairly comfortable. Before the 
train left the city there were 16 persons crowded 
into that apartment. 

The railroad winds its way up and down the 
mountains of Lebanon and grander scenery we 
never saw in Colorado or California. The track 
is cogged much of the way like that up Pike's 
Peak. Along the way there are thousands of mul- 
berry trees which are cultivated for the manufac- 
ture of silk — remember this is the greatest silk 
country in the world. Several carob trees brought 
to mind the story of the Prodigal Son. Hundreds 
of acres of vineyards are to be seen. Also a good 
many pine trees but no cedars — they have been 
most all used up years ago. 

As we pass through a portion of country not 
under Turkish rule, before we reach Damascus 
an officer must examine and stamp every passport 



104 



LANDS OF SACRED -STORY. 



— it is impossible for any foreigner to travel in 
Syria without Turkish passport — ours has twenty- 
one stamps and signatures on the back of it. About 
half 'way to Damascus many of the passengers got 
off the train and the balance of the way we just 
had four companions ; three of them were fierce 
looking Arabs and armed to the teeth ; they were 
kind hearted, however, for they loaded us down 
with apples and plums and offered us cigarettes. 
Before reaching Damascus we were fast friends 
although we could not understand a word of each 
other's language. 

THE IMMORTAL CITY. 
Damascus, as you remember, is said to be the 
oldest city in the world; it is called the "Immortal 
City," but "Immoral City 5 ' would be a better name 
for it. Many of its streets are too narrow for a 
carriage to pass through. The main thoroughfare 
is the street called Straight, and it is in some 
places about twenty feet wide. Mark Twain was 
not far from the truth when he said it is about 
as straight as a cork screw. Of the 150,000 in- 
habitants 120,000 are Moslems. While other 
cities have either passed away or been reborn and 
rebuilt Damascus is said to be almost the same as 
it was 2,000 or 3,000 years ago. In all its long- 
career, so far as history relates, Damascus has 
never been exposed to any memorable siege. Fierce 
wars have raged all around but seldom reached 
its gates. Alexander the Great obtained posses- 
sion of it without any fighting and nearly ail other 
generals and rulers occupied it peaceably. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



105 



The Abana river runs through the city but is a 
small, insignificant, dirty stream. This is a re- 
markable river, however, for it has neither source 
nor mouth. It is needless for us to recount at this 
time the instances in which Damascus is connect- 
ed with Bible history for it would take more space 
and time than we can spare at present. 

THE OLD WALL. 

We saw the old wall where Paul was let down 
in a basket, and visited the so-called home of 
Ananias. There can be but little doubt that the 
wall is the identical one mentioned in Scripture, 
but about the house of Ananias we are not so sure, 
although it is certainly a very ancient house. Early 
in the morning we walked out to the hill upon 
which Mohammed stood gazing at the city when 
he said : "If I once set foot on such an earthly 
paradise I shall have no desire left for the para- 
dise of the hereafter; and man can only enter 
paradise but once,'' and turned away. We pity 
very much Mohammed's idea of Paradise. 

After having some trouble getting a railroad 
ticket and permission from the Turkish officer to 
leave the city we came away delighted with our 
visit to this ancient city. 

On leaving Damascus we had quite an exciting- 
time. Near the suburbs of the city the train 
was running along at a rapid gait (for this road) 
when all at once we stopped and the people poured 
from the cars and everybody was excited. Of 
course we got off and found that some boys were 



106 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



crossing the railroad bridge and the train had run 
into them. One of them dropped through the 
bridge as he could not reach the end of it in time. 
The fall was about twelve or fifteen feet. He was 
not injured and the trainmen caught him and 
placed him in a car in spite of the pleadings of a 
company of people who were gathered beside the 
railroad track, some of whom seemed to be the 
boy's relatives. These railroad men took him 
along to the station, however, and we understood 
they were going to imprison him for getting on 
the track. 

We might tell you a little about the Damascus 
railroad. The ties are iron. The track is about 
as wide as a narrow guage road in this country. 
The bell is on the station house instead of on the 
engine and the stationmaster rings it when time to 
go. It is quite likely the engineer is several rods 
away under a tree smoking when the bell rings. 
The conductor and engineer each have a small 
whistle by means of which they signal each other. 

BAALBEK. 

As we pass along the ruins of Baalbek are only 
a few miles distant. You will all be interested in 
the following note about these ruins which is taken 
from the "World's Chronicle." 

"Its name Baalbek, means city of Baal, the 
sun-god. When the Greeks took possession of 
this famous old city they made its name over into 
Greek — Heliopolis. It was once the most mag- 
nificent city of Syria, with great numbers of pal- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



107 



aces, fountains and monuments. The great tem- 
ple to the sun was built about A. D. 150 by 
Antoninus-Pius; but the inhabitants of the 
straggling village of 2,000 population now occupy- 
ing the site of the ancient city declare that the 
great temple was built by King Solomon. It occu- 
pied a lofty platform on the Acropolis, which was 
reached by a very broad and imposing stairway of 
stone. The lower foundations of the platform 
contain huge stones which are wonderful when 
we think they had to be quarried, brought to the 
Acropolis and placed in their proper positions. 
Some of them are 60 by 12 feet in dimensions. As 
we look at the ruins of the broad steps we see in 
imagination the stately procession of 2,000 years 
ago forming on the rock with the chief men in the 
city bearing on their shoulders the golden image 
of Apollo. 

"The houses are nearly enclosed by high stone 
walls, and the streets are very narrow. The peo- 
ple have a healthy look, but the lower classes seem 
very poorly clothed. We saw two grist mills run- 
ning. Each has a pair of stones set below the run- 
ning stream of water. They looked very primitive 
and ancient. Most of the children speak English 
fairly well. They attend a mission school where 
two women devote themselves to teaching and in- 
culcating religious doctrine. Everybody seems to 
wish to speak our language, as it means getting 
in touch with the highest type of civilization. 

THE GREAT STONE. 

"The Great Stone of Baalbek stands in the 



108 



LANDS OF SACKED STORY. 



quarry a short distance from the town. It has 
been cut accurately and nearly finished, but has 
not been separated from the native rock of which 
it is a part. It measures sixty-nine feet in length, 
over seventeen feet in its widest breadth, and 
thirteen feet ten inches in height, and contains 
over 423 cubic meters. Its weight is estimated at 
915 tons. Scientists have not settled the ques- 
tion as to how the ancients carried these stones to 
the temple and placed some of them in lofty posi- 
tions. The theory that embankments were built 
up so as to form viaducts seems most satisfactory. 
But the labor was enormous, for it would take 
40,000 workmen to move this stone. The nicety 
with which they are hewn is marvelous. A piece 
of paper will not slip in between the joints of 
these monstrous monoliths, so closely were they 
fitted to match while yet in the quarries." 

When we are told that a Roman four horse 
chariot race could be run on the surface of this 
stone we begin to get an idea of its immense size 
and the almost super-human power it would take 
to raise it into position in a wall. 

NOAH'S ARK. 

Not far from Baalbek is a great hollow in the 
ground called "Noah's Ark," where according to 
tradition the patriarch worked for 120 years on 
the building. It is said that this is the only dis- 
trict where there are many traditions concerning 
the patriarchs. The Bible states that before the 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



109 



flood, "There were giants on the earth" (Gen. 
6 :4) . They must have lived in this community. 

Here is the tomb of Noah, the tombs of Seth and 
Abel and others. In the distance is the ancient 
Abila which derives its name from Abel. A very 
ancient legend says that in the field here Abel was 
murdered by his brother Cain. One thing is cer- 
tain, the people who lived here long ago did things 
on a large scale as the ruins that are seen today 
show. The tomb, of Noah is two hundred feet 
long. 

THE MOUNTAINEERS. 

Nestled between the mountains on the road 
from Damascus to Bey rout is a valley the people of 
which are prosperous and wide awake. In fact 
you can almost tell this community from the sur- 
rounding portion wmen you cross the line. It is 
governed by the mountaineers and the people are 
mostly Christian. These p'eople, we are told, 
threw off allegiance to the unspeakable Turk many 
years ago and established a government of their 
own. Zahleh is their city and it contains 15,000 
inhabitants. This city is thirty-five miles from 
Beyrout. 

On reaching Beyrout in the evening we found 
our Jewish friend at the depot and as the great 
ship was in the harbor we went on board at once. 
We were bound for Haifa where for the first time 
we were to set our feet on Palestine soil. 



110 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER XII. 

BEYROUT TO NAZARETH. 

THE GREAT ship of the Kedieval line was a 
quiet resting place for tired folks, although 
we had cattle and sheep as well as men and women 
on board. We would have been glad to stop at 
Sidon, where in 1887 was made one of the most 
remarkable discoveries of modern times. It was 
a series of rock cut chambers, 39 feet below the 
surface of the ground. In these chambers were 
found seventeen beautiful carved sarcophagi be- 
longing to the highest period of ancient Greek art. 
These Greek coffins proved to be those of the 
Greek generals and officers of Alexander the 
Great's army, who perished during the siege of 
Tyre and were buried at Sidon. Here is said to be 
the actual tomb of Alexander the Great. 

TYRE. 

The city of Tyre was mighty in ancient times. 
It was formerly situated on an island and Alexan- 
der the Great in seven months built a giant caus- 
way from the main land to the city and con- 
quered it, either putting its inhabitants to death 
or making them slaves. Today the site of the 
ancient city is in ruins and fishermen spread their 
nets on the rocks to dry as the prophet of God said 
they would do, although when he uttered the 
prophecy this was one of the greatest cities in 
the world. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



Ill 



It is worth while in this connection to quote a 
few words from "The Evidence of Prophecy" by 
Keith. He saj^s, "It is of old Tyre that the prophet 
wrote : 'They shall lay thy stones and thy timber 
and thy dust in the midst of the water. I will 
also scrape her dust from her. I will make thee 
a terror and thou shalt be no more. Though thou 
be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found/ 
(Ezk. 26:4, 12, 21). Where ancient Tyre flour- 
ished in its greatness and pride, not a city, nor a 
town, nor village now stands ; and not a house is 
to be seen over the wide extended space, but a few 
hovels near a copious fountain, that springs forth 
as pure and full as ever. Tyre on the continent 
as it existed in the days of the prophets, in all its 
magnificence and wealth, has wholly vanished but 
a fragment of a ruined aqueduct. It is no move. 
It may be sought for but it cannot be found. The 
stones and the timber that formed it, and even its 
very dust, lie where the first great king of Grecia 
cast it, in the midst of the waters. It is trodden 
under foot by every one who now passes over the 
bare unobstructed path to the ancient island to 
which it still unites the shore, now forming a 
peninsula. The neck of land thus constructed in 
verification of the prophetic word is also accord- 
ing to it, bare like the top of the rock and forms 
on both sides a beach overwashed by the sea. The 
fishermen of the modern village on the ancient is- 
land literally spread their nets on the sand which 
covers the surface of the ground which forms on 
either side a place for the spreading of nets in the 
midst of the sea." 



112 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



HAIFA. 

It was a beautiful morning that our great ship 
slowly steamed into the harbor at Haifa. The sun 
was just peeping over the mourlains of Lebanon 
and there wss not a cloud in the sky. It did n A 
take long for the "unwinding of the red tape" for 
a wonder and we were soon in a boat being rowed 
to shore by the burly boatmen. 

The custom house examination was not very ex- 
tensive and we were soon free to see the sights. 
We first went into the marketplace. Here were 
farmers and herdsmen, gardeners and fruit men, 
all with supplies for the city. It was an interest- 
ing sight to watch the auctioneer and merchants 
and in fact the whole company. Each merchant 
must visit the marketplace early in the morning if 
he would have supplies for the day. The earliest 
on the ground have the choice. The country peo- 
ple must be up in the early hours of the morning 
and be on hand for they have learned long ago 
that the most enterprising merchants are earliest 
on the ground. 

Haifa is a beautiful little city of 10,000 people, 
located at the foot of Mount Carmel. The name 
signifies "A heaven," and many think it is re- 
ferred to in the Song of Deborah and Barak. Acre 
is just across the beautiful bay, and it has been 
called the "Key of Palestine." On the outskirts of 
Haifa and near the foot of the limestone crags that 
form the Point of Carmel, there is a very interest- 
ing ancient cave which is known as the "School of 
Prophets." Here, it is said, was located one of 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



113 



the ancient sacred colleges where youths were in- 
structed in religious and scientific knowledge by 
the prophets. As such schools were in other parts 
of Palestine and as Elijah lived for a long time at 
Mt. Carmel, this tradition may be correct, and 
this chamber may have been the place where he 
had the young men in training. At any rate this 
place is said to be held sacred by Christians, Jews, 
Moslems and Druses alike. 

Beneath the altar of a church at the Convent in 
the city is a natural cave or grotto, fitted up as a 
chapel and said to have been the dwelling place 
of the Prophet Elijah. 

The houses of Haifa are mostly built of white 
limestone. The people are quite industrious, hav- 
ing several factories and using two horse wagons. 
A portion of the ancient wall is still standing. The 
Bay of Acre upon which the city is built has been 
the scene of many a battle. This is one place that 
Napoleon could not take, although he besieged the 
city for a long time and lost many of his men. 

Brother McGarvey says when he visited Haifa 
an American steam thresher, the only one in all 
Asia at that time, was there, but we didn't see 
anything of that kind. Only a few miles from the 
city we saw people threshing wheat the way they 
did when Abraham was a little boy, so we suppose 
they grew tired of America's machinery and went 
back to the "good old way." 

We had quite a time trying to find the proper 
official in Haifa, that permission might be obtained 
to go to Nazareth, but gave it up. 



114 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



ON TO NAZARETH. 

After spending a short time seeing the sights 
of Haifa, securing a carriage the start was made 
for Nazareth, about twenty miles distant. For 
several miles the carriage road followed the rail- 
road (this railroad was completed for 30 or 40 
miles, but the Turkish government secured it and 
stopped the work)* Skirting along the base of 
Mt. Carmel, we passed a copious spring and a 
Moslem village or two situated in olive groves. 
Crossing the river Kishon (dry this time of the 
year) we ascended the hills, passing through a 
beautiful oak forest. On the right is the topmost 
peak of Mt. Carmel, called the "Place of Burning/' 
the scene of the great test between Elijah and the 
prophets of Baal. On the banks of the river just 
across is a green artificial funeral mound, called 
to this day the "Priest Mound," marking the spot 
where the 850 priests and prophets of Baal were 
slain in accordance with the command of Elijah, 
Also on the side near the top of the mountain are 
to be seen distinct traces of rock cut channels, such 
as are said to be generally seen on the surfaces of 
ancient rock altars. 

On the side of the mountain there is some brush 
and women come for miles and carry it home for 
fuel. We saw women with great bundles of this 
brush on their heads and sometimes they could 
only go a short distance without stopping to rest. 

Stopping at a well by the roadside, where some 
Mohammedan women were drawing water, Isaac. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



115 



the Jew, asked them kindly in their own language 
to give us a drink. They did so cheerfully and 
Isaac told us that no Moslem would refuse a 
stranger a drink of water. They might waylay 
and murder us and think nothing about it, but if 
one of them would refuse a stranger a drink of 
water he would feel that he had committed the 
unpardonable sin. 

To the right is the place where "The stars in 
their courses fought against Sisera." Our first 
sight of the "Plain of Esdraelon," the great battle- 
field of history, is wonderful indeed. Yonder is a 
village where almost the entire population, men, 
women and children, are engaged in threshing. 
In Egypt the people have some kind of a drag 
which they pull over the grain and upon which 
the driver rides, but here it is the old fashioned 
way — just tramping out the grain. Here we 
lunch, rest our horses and pay the government tax. 
The dwellings in this village remind one of pig 
pens rather than dwellings. It seems as though 
the women in this land do as much work outdoors 
as the men, and grind the corn, do their house- 
work, make their clothes (if they have any), and 
rear their children besides. Any American 
woman that thinks she has a hard time would 
change her mind very suddenly if she could see 
these poor creatures in this land. In this village 
was a woman (about the only one who was not 
threshing) mixing mortar and handing it, with 
the stone, to the man on the wall who managed to 



116 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



wriggle the stones in place and spread the mortar 
upon them. 

Going on toward Nazareth, Mount Tabor rises 
majestically before us. Also Little Hermon, Gil- 
boa and the Mountains of Samaria are not far 
away. Soon we reach the village of Yaffa, or 
Japhia, as it is called in Joshua 19:12. Here a 
great battle took place between the Romans and 
the Jews, a graphic account of which is given by 
Josephus, who himself fortified and defended the 
place. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



117 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE HOME OF THE CARPENTER. 

IT WAS a beautiful scene that appeared before 
our eyes as we rode over the crest of the moun- 
tain. Yonder but a mile away surrounded by hills 
was the "home of the carpenter." Shielded by 
hills on every side it is "beautiful for situation." 
For thirty years the purest life of mortal being 
on earth was lived here. It is a hallowed city. To 
visit it thrills the heart of a Christian. 

What memories crowd upon us as we ride to- 
ward the city! If three years of teaching and 
preaching would "lift empires from their founda- 
tions and turn the stream of history from its old 
channel," what would thirty years of life not do? 
Nearly all of the great Bible cities of two thousand 
years ago are now piles of ruins, but Nazareth is 
the same peaceful village as in days of yore. Al- 
though but a few miles from the world's greatest 
battlefield Nazareth has hardly been molested. 

Riding up to the hotel Germania we engaged 
quarters and sat down for a little rest. Talk about 
resting in Nazareth ! We had not rested ten min- 
utes until we were up and out of the hotel. Pass- 
ing along the street we attracted some attention. 
People in the shops turned to look as w T e passed 
by. A company of boys followed along behind. 
The streets are narrow and paved with stone, 



113 



LANDS OF SACKED STORY 



something like niggerheads, and they have be- 
come so slippery that it is hard to stand up. 

As we think it over we are safe in saying that 
more people according to population, were at work 
than in any other city in Palestine. Here are 
shops of every kind and many people own their 
own homes — something new in Turkish territory. 
It is said there are twenty-four carpenters in Naz- 
areth, but from the buildings one would judge 
that none of them are skilled. There are eight or 
ten churches, several mosques and perhaps a dozen 
schools, one of which we visited and were delighted 
with what we saw there. 

THE FOOD PROBLEM. 

The problem of getting something to eat was 
quite serious. Being out of season the cooks must 
have been on a vacation. The bread is baked in 
an oven that is heated mostly by burning dried 
cow-chips and the smell is a little too much for the 
ordinary American. We had cheese, but it was 
green. The eggs were nearly all spoiled. The milk 
we did not relish for we had had some experience 
watching the dairymen in Naples, Italy. It was 
like this. We had an Italian guide who said, "Now 
mister, see ze diaryman." We looked around ex- 
pecting to see some kind of a wagon, but none 
were in sight. " Where is that dairyman, guide?" 
we asked. "Don't you see zat man with ze goats?" 
he said excitedly. "Now watch him." The man 
in question was just stopping his goats in front 
of a house. The window of the upper story was 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY, 



119 



open and a woman was letting down a can by 
means of a string. The dairyman took from it a 
coin and milked the can full, the lady holding on to 
the string. When he had finished she drew the can 
up to the window and the dairyman and his dog 
took the goats on to the next customer. 

Most people travel through Palestine with 
Thomas Cook or some other tourist agency, and 
the cooks as well as the provisions are taken with 
them. We were going it alone and without their 
aid and we had some unforgetable experiences. 
As the Jew Isaac and the author were arranging 
for horses and guide to go overland to Jerusalem 
we ran across one of the city officials. He spoke 
to Isaac and soon they were having an exciting 
time. As their talking was not in English we did 
not know what was wrong until Isaac explained 
that we had entered Nazareth without permission 
and we must go with the gentleman to the proper 
authorities and make a full explanation as to who 
we were and what we were doing in their city. 

FINED. 

The hall of justice was a great place you may 
be sure. Several officials were there to examine 
us. Isaac explained that we were visiting their 
country as tourists and not spies ; that we had just 
came from Haifa and could not find the proper 
official to get our passports stamped, etc. The 
decison of the official was that we must pay a fine 
for entering Nazareth without permission and in 
addition we must remunerate him for giving us 



12© 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



permission to proceed on our journey, which of 
course we gladly did. The whole thing only 
amounted to about 60 cents each. 

In the evening as we were sitting on the 
veranda of the hotel we were attracted by a man 
in the street swinging his arms and talking loudly. 
Quite a crowd followed, but no one went very near. 
He was a crazy man and as they have no asylums 
these people generally run at large. We told you 
in a former chapter about visiting the only asylum 
for crazy people in all Syria. 

Nazareth has today a population of about 10,000 
people. Nearly one-half are Christians. There 
are, it is said about 2,000 Mohammedans. It is 
the largest city in Galilee. Although it has never 
been identified with any place of Old Testament 
history it is today one of the most famous cities 
of the world. There are here several handsome 
and well managed institutions connected with re- 
ligion and philanthropy. First, and perhaps, fore- 
most is the Protestant Orphanage for girls, which 
reminded us very much of the great Orphan 
Houses of George Muller in Bristol, England. 
Here the homeless waifs are clothed, fed and 
taught how to make the most of life and prepare 
for the life to come as well. The attendants are 
kind and very courteous and the halls, sleeping 
rooms, dining rooms, kitchen and laundry very 
clean and tidy. This institution is about thirty 
years old and is doing a world of good. 

JOSEPH'S WORKSHOP. 

Of course we visited the Church of the Annun- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



121 



ciation, a beautiful edifice which has been erected 
over the traditional site of the Virgin's home. In 
a crypt beneath the visitor is shown the place 
where the angel Gabriel is said to have appeared 
to Mary. This, together with the so-called Mary's 
Kitchen and Joseph's Workshop, and other sacred 
sites have undoubtedly been invented for the de- 
votion and offerings of those who visit this famous 
city. Two places, however, are possible excep- 
tions to the above. One is Mary's Well, which is 
the only natural spring in the whole basin in which 
Nazareth is located, and perhaps many times the 
carpenter and family frequented this fountain 
as people do today. The other possible exception 
is a very ancient Jewish synagogue, and many 
learned men think it quite possible that this was 
in existence in the time of Christ and the identical 
place where Christ delivered His memorable dis- 
course as recorded in Luke 4:16-30, and which so 
aroused the indignation of his fellow citizens that 
they hurried Him to the brow of the hill to cast 
Him down headlong, which was the punishment of 
blasphemers. 

As soon as we came near this building, which 
used to be a Jewish Synagogue, Isaac pointed out 
upon the ancient wall above the door, some Hebrew 
characters which he said any Jew would recognize 
as the characters above the door of a synagogue. 

A DIVIDED CHURCH. 

It will not be out of place to mention here, for 
the benefit of young people who read these lines, 
the fact that in almost every city of Palestine we 



122 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



hear of the Greek Church and the Latin Church. 
Many hundred years ago the church was divided. 
The Greek Church used the Greek language and 
were called the Eastern Church. They held fast 
to the New Testament order of things. They 
practice immersion today and for many years ob- 
served the Lord's supper every first day of the 
week. They number at present one hundred mil- 
lion. The most of the Christians in Palestine be- 
long to the Greek Church. 

The western divison of the church used the 
Latin language in their services and became the 
Roman Catholic Church. For years they practiced 
immersion for baptism. They do not question to- 
day that it was the only baptism in New Testa- 
ment times, but they say the Pope was the Apostle 
Peter's successor and had the power to make any 
changes that he desired. Accordingly in 1311, 
A. D., at a council at Havana the ordinance was 
changed and so announced to the world. Every 
church today that practices sprinkling for bap- 
tism is following the Roman Catholic Church in 
that particular. It really seems strange that any 
minister in these days would stand in the pulpit 
and contradict the plain fact of history that any 
up to date encyclopedia or church history states, 
and that the entire religious world was united 
upon it until the fourteenth century and one-half 
or more of the religious world stands for today. 

In Jerusalem and Bethlehem and some other 
cities the Greeks have a portion of a church and 
the Latins have another portion and there is the 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



123 



most bitter enmity between the two, so much so 
that soldiers must remain in the churches night 
and day to keep these factions from fighting. 

A WONDERFUL VIEW. 

Going out on the top of the mountain near Naz- 
areth the view is one never to be forgotten. To 
the east lies the Valley of the Jordan with the 
mountains of Moab in the back ground. About 
fifteen miles northeast is the Sea of Galilee, called 
also the Sea of Tiberias and Lake of Gennesaret. 

This is a beautiful body of water about seven 
miles wide and about twice as long. The shape 
is something like that of a pear. Ordinarily the 
water is smooth and yet in a short time it will be- 
come very rough. It was after a hard day's toil 
that the Master entered a boat with His fishermen 
disciples and as they rowed He fell asleep. It 
was no ordinary storm that suddenly came up for 
although these men were used to the sea they were 
frightened. While crossing the ocean at one time, 
the writer was frightened in what semed to be a 
great storm, but the sailors only laughed and said 
it was "just a little wind." They were used to it. 
These disciples were used to the storms of the Sea 
of Galilee, but this time they were very much 
frightened. 

After working hard to keep the boat from be- 
ing overturned they had almost given up hope 
and waked up the Master, saying, "Save us or we 
will perish." At the word, "Peace be still," the 
wind stopped blowing, the waves stopped rolling, 



124 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



the lightning ceased and the thunder was heard 
no more. Is it any wonder that these men said to 
each other in their astonishment, "What manner 
of man is this that the winds and the sea obey 
him." 

On the borders of the Sea of Galilee used to be 
situated great and populous cities. Capernaum 
and Bethsaida on the north, Magdala and Tiberias 
on the west. It is rather strange that the only 
one of the cities in this neighborhood which ex- 
isted in the time of Christ, that is not in ruins 
is Tiberias. There is a tradition that the Master 
never entered this city. Capernaum which had 
30,000 people, is now in ruins as was prophesied, 
so are the other cities against whom were pro- 
nounced the woes. 

The mountain just west of the Sea of Galilee is 
the "Horns of Hattin," where was spoken the fam- 
ous sermon on the Mount. On to the north and a 
little east is Mt. Hermon, which was the scene of 
the transfiguration. Still farther to the north are 
the mountains of Lebanon. Turning to the west 
the mountains of Carmel loom up and beyond 
which is the Great Sea. 

To the southwest the world's greatest battle- 
field lies stretched before our view. It is the 
Plain of Esdraelon and a little later we will tell 
you more about it. To the south are the moun- 
tains of Samaria and a little to the east are the 
mountains of Gilboa. Just a few miles southeast 
is Mount Tabor and away beyond we can get a 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



125 



glimpse of Mount Nebo upon which Moses stood as 
he viewed the landscape o'er. 

What a vision from this mountain top near 
Nazareth ! No spot on earth presents such a view. 
One can stand for hours and not get tired of look- 
ing. Every foot of mountain and plain is historic. 
We have seen the sun rise from the majestic moun- 
tains of Colorado, and from the mighty waves of 
the ocean, but in our mind the morning old Sol 
peeped over Mount Habor he looked just a little 
better than we ever saw him before. It may be, 
however, that the sacred memories of events 
which took place in the days of long ago, had so 
impressed us that the sun looked more beautiful 
than ever as his beams flooded the valley below 
Mount Tabor. 

It was a delightful stay in Nazareth. At the 
Protestant School for Girls we were treated with 
the utmost courtesy. To go through the crowded 
streets of this city was very interesting. To be 
shown the very tools used by the Master and the 
cooking utensils used in the kitchen of Mary is 
quite a treat to some, but to us it seemed disgust- 
ing. The attendants have told their story so often 
that they really believe it, but every one who 
will stop and think a little know T s that neither the 
tools nor the cooking utensils were in use more 
than two or three generations back. 



126 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ACROSS THE WORLD'S GREATEST BATTLE- 
FIELD. 

TO HIRE horses and guide for a journey is 
quite a task in Nazareth. They generally 
want four prices at first. We finally made a bar- 
gain with a man who agreed to be at our hotel at 
3 : 30 in the morning. We wanted to get started at 
the dawning of the day. In the afternoon we each 
purchased a riding whip as most of the horses are 
lazy. You need not try to purchase that "whip" 
from the writer for we expect to keep it a long 
time for the sake of old memories. 

It seemed we had only fallen asleep when our 
landlord pounded on the door and called us to 
breakfast. Our lunch was prepared — we had pur- 
chased a couple of chickens, and hired the hotel 
cook to roast them so that we would not be com- 
pelled to depend upon what we might find in the 
villages along the way. 

Just at the break of day we were in the saddle 
ready to start toward Jerusalem. The distance is 
about sixty miles as the crow flies, but it is about 
120 miles to ride on horseback. As we rode out of 
Nazareth that morning it seemed that we were 
leaving home, as the short time spent in the city 
had been so pleasant. 

For a short distance we followed the Haifa 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



127 



road, but soon turned from this to a path down 
the mountain side. No one who has not traveled 
over the mountains on horseback knows the hard- 
ships of a trip through Palestine. Especially if 
one goes alone and without the aid of a tourist 
company. It seemed that we never would reach 
the foot of the mountain. Our horses picked their 
way over places that were extremely dangerous 
to say the least. 

Yonder is old Mount Tabor where Deborah and 
Barak gathered their army and waited for a fav- 
orable time to attack Jabin and Sisera. In the 
army of the latter were the chariots of iron which 
could not be driven up the mountain and when 
there came a great rain so the wheels would stick 
in the mud Deborah and Barak swept down the 
mountain with 10,000 men and destroyed the 
armies of the enemies. The record says that "the 
stars in their courses fought against Sisera. 

ENDOR, NAIN, SHUNEM. 

Here is another mountain called Little Hermon. 
Over there but a mile distant is the little village of 
Endor, where lived the witch that Saul sought out 
the night before his last battle. This village is 
still called Endur and is a miserable little, dirty 
village containing probably 200 people. The people 
mostly live in caves and it was probably one of 
these caverns that was the home of the witch. 

A couple of miles farther on we come to the 
village of Nain. Here occurred an event the mem- 
ory of which will be cherished as long as time. A 



128 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



widow's son had died and they were bearing his 
body out of the city to the tombs that can be seen 
to this day to bury it, when Jesus and some of His 
disciples, who had been to Capernaum, met the 
procession. The remaining part of the story is 
familiar to all how the widow was made happy by 
the raising of her son to life again. Turn to the 
seventh chapter of Luke and read again this won- 
derful story. 

Now we gallop over this historic plain of Es- 
draelon a few miles farther and halt at the village 
of Solem which is no other than the Shunem of 
Old. Testament times. Here lived the Shunamite 
family that befriended the Prophet Elisha. They 
built a little chamber for his benefit and placed 
within it a bed, a stool, a table and a candlestick, 
and many times the prophet must have stopped in 
this pleasant home. Long after this room was 
fitted up for Elisha, a son was born to the parents 
in this home. The boy grew rapidly and was no 
doubt a great favorite. 

Now in harvest time the heat is intense in the 
valleys in Palestine. We know this is true for it 
was a July day that we rode across this plain. 
Just out of the village the Shunamites went to sow 
their grain, and later to harvest it. On a hot day 
when this boy was in the field with his parents he 
was overcome with the heat. Everything possible 
was done for him, but to no avail for soon he died. 
Loving arms carried him tenderly to the home in 
the village and laid him in the prophet's room, 

It is about eighteen miles across the Plain of 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



129 



Esdraelon from east to west. Shunem was lo- 
cated near the eastern border of the plain. At the 
time of the death of the Shunamite boy Elisha was 
at Mt. Carmel. When the boy's mother had done 
all she could, she gently and lovingly covered the 
little body and called for her beast and started 
across to Mt. Carmel to tell the prophet her sor- 
row. She urged her driver to go faster and not 
slack the pace until she ordered him to do so. 

IT IS WELL. 

In the meantime Elisha had noticed some one 
riding rapidly across the plain. He thought the 
woman looked familiar and he said to his servant 
Gehazi, "Behold yonder is that Shunamite; run 
now and meet her and say unto her, is it well with 
thee ? Is it well with thy husband ? Is it well with 
thy child?" But this sorrowful mother did not 
want to even stop to talk to Gehazi the servant, so 
she just passed on saying to him, "It is well." She 
went on up the hill to Elisha and for a moment 
could not speak, but caught hold of him. The 
servant was ready to take her away when the 
prophet said, "Let her alone." As soon as she 
could speak she told Elisha all about it and he 
was moved by her story. He at once ordered his 
servant to take his staff and hurry to Shunem, 
saluting no man by the way, and lay the staff on 
the child's face. The mother, however, refused to 
leave the prophet until he agreed to go baek home 
with her. 

As the prophet and mother n eared Shunem 



ISO 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



Elisha's servant met them, telling them it was of 
no use, that the child was dead. Elisha when he 
reached the room had all to go out and he prayed 
to God for the life of the boy and it was given. 
What a happy mother this woman must have been 
when Elisha gave her back her boy alive and well. 
No wonder she fell at the prophet's feet in her 
desire to thank the Lord for the life that was 
given back to her. 

Another very interesting event which took place 
at Shunem was the miraculous increase of oil in 
the home of a woman whose husband had died 
and the creditors were going to take all she had for 
debt. She had such faith in the prophet of Je- 
hovah that she prepared the last food in her house 
for him, but human extremity is divine opportun- 
ity so she was greatly blessed in what she did. 

The Philistines had their camp here, just before 
the terrible battle in which Saul and Jonathan lost 
their lives. This village, as well as many others, 
is surrounded by a great hedge of cactus through 
which it is almost impossible for either man or 
beast to pass. Upon these cactus grow the prickly 
pear, which is no small part of the food upon which 
the people of this country subsist. 

JEZREEL. 

Passing on we soon came to a squalid village on 
the top of a hill, which is the site of the watch 
tower of Jezreel. To the east is the Valley of 
Jezreel where Gideon defeated the Midianites so 
gloriously. At the foot of Mt. Gilboa to the south- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



131 



east is the fountain of Jezreel, where Saul and his 
army encamped. The Well of Harod, where Gid- 
eon tested his soldiers by "lapping," is not far 
away. We also are near the spot where Jehu met 
the princes of Judah, relatives of King Ahaziah, 
and put them to death by the roadside. We are 
going along the same road that he traveled from 
Jezreel to Samaria. Before leaving Jezreel, how- 
ever, we will pause long enough to notice 
one of the blackest crimes ever recorded in the his- 
tory of God's chosen people. King Ahab had here 
a beautiful palace with luxurious gardens. By his 
side lived a pious man who seems to have taken 
great delight in keeping his grounds beautiful, so 
much so that the king was a little jealous of him 
and made up his mind he would buy him out. 
Imagine the king's surprise when Naboth flatly re- 
fused to sell his gardens at any price for it was 
the old homestead that had belonged to the family 
for many generations. 

So great was the king's disappointment that he 
went into the palace, flung himself upon the bed 
and refused to eat. Now Ahab had made the sad- 
dest mistake of his life when he married an idola- 
trous wife. This woman Jezebel was the wicked- 
est woman in all history. The very first thing she 
did after her marriage with the king was to defy 
Jehovah and establish idolatry in the palace and 
feed four hundred priests from the king's table. 

JEZEBEL GETS THE VINEYARD. 

Wfeea she found the king downcast sfre man- 



132 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



aged to get from him the secret of his trouble. 
With a sneer at his attitude in the matter, she told 
him to get up and she would get the vineyard for 
him. Then comes a long series of devilish deeds 
which involved a number of innocent people and 
ending with the killing of a whole family. 

First she forged the name of the king and he 
was too big a puppet in her hands to utter a word 
of protest. She wrote a letter to the elders sign- 
ing the king's name and using his seal. Next she 
evidently saw these elders and either frightened 
or bribed them to do her bidding. 

Next she proclaimed a fast. The whole city 
was aroused. The wrath of God had been incurred 
and something must be done to find out the sin. 
Perhaps Naboth felt in his heart that there was 
some scheme on foot but of course he had to at- 
tend the convocation anyway. In some way he 
found himself being pushed to the front. What 
did it all mean anyway? At the proper time two 
worthless characters who would do anything for a 
small bribe, were seen pointing at Naboth and 
making a great ado. These elders, who had been 
"primed," began to ask them questions and soon 
the crowd became silent. 

One question brought on another and soon these 
two "Men of Belial" were accusing Naboth of 
blaspheming God and the king. Of all crimes 
this was about the worst, to the Jew. As Naboth 
looks around among his old friends and fellow 
towsnmen he cannot find a look of sympathy — they 
are all against him. Had he not blasphemed? 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



133 



Here are two men who said he had and Jezebel 
well knew that two witnesses would condemn any 
Jew. 

NABOTH CONDEMNED. 

Some how in this trying hour Naboth's tongue 
seems to be paralyzed. He cannot speak. The 
shock is too great. Sometimes a man who is en- 
tirely innocent cannot in a critical time find his 
speech. In another moment the crowd is a how- 
ling mob. A mob of excited human beings will do 
anything if they have a leader. Some one casts 
the first stone. The good man Naboth is stricken 
down and his body is soon a lifeless corpse. Per- 
haps his wife and children were at home but they 
are hunted and brought only to share the same 
fate as Naboth himself. 

Now that the whole family is slain the mob dis- 
perses. The leaders seek the wicked queen (noth- 
ing said about their telling Ahab) and tell her the 
whole story. She listens with increasing interest 
and when they assure her that the whole family 
has been slain, she pays them the price agreed and 
they leave. Then she seeks King Ahab and with 
a satanic chuckle says, "Go now and take posses- 
sion of the vineyard that Naboth refused to sell at 
any price, for Naboth is dead." 

But the end was not yet. Even the most pow- 
erful woman in the kingdom must reckon with the 
real owner of the vineyard. He whose eye never 
slumbers took knowledge of the whole occurrence. 
The dogs who devoured the bodies of the slain f am- 



134 LANDS OF SACKED STORY. 



ily would later want another meal. No the people 
of Jezreel had not seen the last act of the tragedy. 
The royal chariot is at the door of the palace. All 
knew that the king was going to take possession 
of his new vineyard. Yes, yonder he goes. The 
chariot pulls up to the gate and Ahab alights and 
walks in, but who is that tall rugged stranger fol- 
lowing him? How stately he stalks up to the 
king without any obedience! O, it is the heroic 
prophet. For many months he has been silent — 
not since the great event at Mt. Carmel has he 
appeared to a single inhabitant of that country. 

Ahab the king, turns deathly pale when Elijah 
thunders forth, "Hath thou killed and taken pos- 
session?'' No wonder Ahab in his desperation 
cried out, ''Hast thou found me, mine enemy?" 
"Yes I have found thee," spoke the prophet. He 
then went on to say that by the wall out yonder 
the dogs shall eat the body of Jezebel. 

JEZEBEL'S DEATH. 

A few years later there was an exciting time in 
this same city. Jehu entered the gate of Jezreel 
and as he looked up he saw this wicked queen with 
her face painted, looking out of the window. He 
reined up his horse and shouted to the attendants 
to throw her down. They, no doubt, glad to be 
free from her iron hand, threw her down and her 
blood was sprinkled upon the stones of the wall. 
A few hours later Jehu said to his attendant, "Go, 
see now this cursed woman and bury her." They 
went and lo, the dogs had had another meal — the 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



135 



prophesy of Elijah was fulfilled. A sad stay in 
Jezreel. 

After calling to mind the murder of Naboth and 
the taking possession of his vineyard as we have 
done, it is a relief to get away from Jezreel. Only 
a few miles ride brings up to Jenin, a village the 
people of which are turbulent and quarrelsome. 



136 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER XV. 

JENIN TO JERUSALEM. 

JENIN IS a village containing about 4,000 peo- 
ple and is situated at the southeast of the 
Plain of Esdraelon at the foot of the hills just be- 
tween Samaria and Galilee. Here occurred the 
healing of the ten lepers. Luke 17 : 11-19. The 
Hebrew name of this place signifies "a garden," 
and it is a pretty spot and inviting as a halting 
place for travelers. Here we stopped for lunch 
and an hour's rest. Our muleteer gave the horses 
into the hands of some natives and proceeded to 
make us comfortable under a large tree. Fresh 
water was brought, prickly pears were purchased 
(they grow on the cactus) and we really enjoyed 
our lunch. Many of the natives came around, but 
when they saw the big revolver that Isaac had 
carelessly thrown on a blanket they took a few 
steps back and finally left us. 

Starting on our way we traveled over the Moun- 
tains of Samaria and down a great valley 
and soon came to a town on a hill 
about 200 feet high, which can only be ap- 
proached from the north. This is Dothan, the 
place near which Joseph's brethren were feeding 
their flocks when he came upon them. It was here 
also that Elisha was dwelling when the Syrians 
were sent to capture him and where his servant 
saw the wonderful vision, the account of which is 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



137 



found in 2 Kings 6 : 13-18. Near this hill are some 
ancient roclc pits, or cisterns, and it is possible that 
into one of these identical places Joseph was 
placed by his brethren until the caravan of Ish- 
maelites came along. We are upon one of the most 
ancient high roads of the world and along this 
plain still runs one of the principle trade routes 
between Egypt and the Euphrates valley. 

Just along here our muleteer had trouble with 
his horse and Isaac went back to help him. While 
riding along alone a native came up and tried to 
ask something, but we could not understand him. 
Pointing to our horse and his donkey we bantered 
him for a race, and you would have laughed to see 
us galloping over the plain, he on a donkey that 
looked like a jack rabbit. 

HILL OF SAMARIA. 

Riding on for about three and one-half hours, 
winding our way across valleys and rocky clifts, 
we reach the top of a mountain, where we get a 
glimpse of the Hill of Samaria and its surround- 
ings, the scene of so many of the stirring events 
of Israel's history. After taking a last look at the 
mountains and plains of Galilee we begin the 
descent which is so steep and rocky that it is dan- 
gerous. In less than one hour we are ascending 
the hill and can discern the outline of the theater 
builded by Herod the Great. Samaria is on a hill 
which is about 1,500 feet high and being almost in- 
accessable except from one side, is almost a perfect 
site for a capital city. Here was the celebrated 



138 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



Ivory Palace of King Ahab, 1 Kings 22 :39. Ruins 
are to be seen nearly everywhere. About 100 of 
the 2,000 columns that once bordered the Grand 
Colon ad e are still standing in their original posi- 
tion. Of course we stop at the 'Church of St. John 
the Baptist/' a part of which has been converted 
into a Moslem Mosque. Here we found about fifty 
children attending school. This was the first Mo- 
hammedan school we ever visited and it was very 
interesting indeed. Isaac being able to speak 
Arabic talked with the teacher who left his pupils, 
secured some candles and took us down into the 
cave which is pointed out as the tomb of John the 
Baptist, but the most of us believe that John was 
beheaded at Machaerus, which is east of the Dead 
Sea, as Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us in 
his Antiquities of the Jews (see Book 18, Chap- 
ter 5.) 

Going down the hill we soon came to old aque- 
duct, the water of which emptied into a reservoir, 
and this is thought to be undoubtedly the Pool of 
Samaria, where the blood-stained chariot of Ahab 
was washed after the Monarch's violent death (1 
Kings 22 :38) . Around the pool of water are men 
washing their feet and watering their donkeys, 
women are washing their clothing and filling their 
water-pots; some are jabbering pleasantly and 
some quarreling. It was now toward evening and 
as it was quite a ride to Nablous, we stopped under 
a tree for lunch. 

NABLOUS. 

Soon we were on our way, however, and just 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



139 



before dark we rode into Nablous or Shechem, 
which is one of the oldest cities in the world. Hav- 
ing been in the saddle most of the time since 3:30 
in the morning, you can imagine we were very 
tired. 

Nablous is in some respects about the worst 
town in Palestine. Although there is said to be 
twenty-seven soap factories in the city it is diffi- 
cult to pass along its streets without getting into 
filth and slime. It contains about 15,000 people 
nearly all of whom are Moslems. The only Samar- 
itan Synagogue in the world is here and in it is 
the celebrated Samaritan Pentateuch which some 
claim was written by one of Aaron's grandsons. 

Having a desire to stop in a convent we did 
so at Nablous, and will just say that one night 
in a convent is enough for me if this one is a fair 
sample. The whole building was dirty and almost 
the entire night was spent fighting bedbugs and 
fleas. It was hard to keep the cats off the table 
while trying to eat. The only thing we had for 
breakfast that I attempted to eat was boiled eggs 
and on breaking the shells we found just half of 
them spoiled. 

Early in the morning we rode between the noted 
mountains, Ebel and Gerizim. They are each 
about 3,000 feet high and the valley between is 
about one-half mile wide. Isaac stated that on 
one occasion he and some friends tried talking to 
each other from across the valley and could hear 
each other's voices very plain. Three times in the 
days of Joshua, Israel's millions were gathered 



140 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



here to hear the blessings and cursings read and to 
hear their commander's farewell address. 

JACOB'S WELL. 

Soon we were at Jacob's Well, which is one of 
the most historic spots in Palestine. Near here 
Abraham built the first altar to Jehovah that ever 
was erected on Palestine soil. Here Jacob bought 
a tract of land and made it his home for many 
years. The well which he dug almost 4,000 years 
ago is to be seen today. We sat for awhile that 
beautiful morning upon the identical stone where 
the Saviour sat and preached the greatest sermon, 
with one exception, He ever delivered, at least that 
is recorded. This magnificent sermon was preach- 
ed to one person, and that was a sinful Samaritan 
woman. He allowed neither the weariness of the 
flesh nor the character of the woman to interfere 
with the sermon. 

This well now belongs to the Greek Christians, 
who have enclosed it with a wall. It is something 
like six feet in diameter and about seventy feet 
deep, although it is said that there is seventy-five 
or eighty feet of rubbish in it, therefore it was 
originally nearly one hundred and fifty feet in 
depth. Across the way is Joseph's Tomb which is 
a most interesting spot. 

PLAIN OF SHILOK. 

Passing on we soon enter the Plain of Shiloh 
and a ruin on a hill nearby marks the place where 
the ark rested four hundred years, and where Eli 
fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



141 



and broke his neck. The climax of dangerous 
places was reached when we entered Robbers' Val- 
ley and came up to Robbers' Spring. 

Soon we passed by Bethel where Jacob with his 
head resting upon a stone had his most wonderful 
dream, the record of which is found in the 28th 
chapter of Genesis. Here Jereboam set up an idol 
to keep the people of Israel away from Jerusalem, 
and which drew them away from God. 

Next is Beeroth, where the murderers of Ish- 
bosheth lived (11 Sam. 4:2) and where, according 
to tradition Jesus the boy was missed by his par- 
ents, who went back to Jerusalem and found him 
in the Temple among the doctors asking and an- 
swering questions. Here we stopped to lunch and 
rest, which we did in a stone house. 

Passing on we soon came to Shafat or Nob, 
where the ark and tabernacle rested and where 
David ate the shew -bread and secured the sword 
of Goliah. Gibea is not far away and here oc- 
curred, as some one has said, "The darkest tragedy 
of Israel's dying love." Riding upon the top of 
Mt. Scopus we behold in all its wondrous beauty, 
the "City of the Great King." 



142 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CITY OF THE GREAT KING, 

44 1 F I FORGET thee, Jerusalem, let my right 
i hand forget her cunning." This sentence 
comes ringing down the ages with peculiar force. 
At least it came to the writer with peculiar force 
as we reigned up our horse on the top of Mt. 
Scopus and took a long look at the city of the 
Great King. 

Here was the home of David and Solomon. Yon- 
der on Mt. Moriah once stood the finest building 
of all history — the temple. In its place stands the 
Mosque of Omar and if the religion of the Moslems 
was a thousandth part as good as that Mosque is 
beautiful it would pass pretty well. 

David no doubt stood upon Mt. Scopus one day 
in the long ago and saw the fort on the mountain 
(now called Mt. Zion) and noted that the Jebus- 
ites, in order to insult him and his army, had man- 
ned the battlements with the lame and blind. They 
soon found their mistake, however, for when 
David beheld their audacity, he said to his hosts, 
"the first man that scales that rock fortress and 
kills a Jebusite shall be my chief captain." A 
crowd of warriors started but Joab was the fortu- 
nate man and all readers of the Bible know that 
David was true to his promise. 

DAVID SINNED. 

A few years after the above event David com- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



143 



mitted a grievous wrong in numbering the people 
when God had forbidden it. Even Joab tried to 
prevent it but King David was stubborn and must 
have his way. The Lord was displeased and 
"smote Israel.'' David confessed his sin, how- 
ever, and the Lord sent Gad, David's seer to him 
with three propositions allowing him to take his 
choice. The Chronicler can tell it better, however, 
and we will quote from 1 Chron. 21st chapter. 

"So Gad came to David and said unto him, Thus 
saith the Lord, choose thee either three years fam- 
ine; or three months to be destroyed before thy 
foes, while that the sword of thine enemies over- 
take thee ; or else three days the sword of the Lord 
even the pestilence in the land and the angel of the 
Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of 
Israel." 

David said, "I am in a great strait; let me fall 
now into the hand of the Lord ; for very great are 
his mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of 
man." The pestilence came and a darker day 
never dawned. Seventy thousand men fell. Je- 
rusalem seemed to be doomed for as David climb- 
ed upon this mountain and looked across at Jerusa- 
lem he saw a mighty angel standing with a sword 
drawn over the city. David and those with him all 
dressed in sackcloth fell to the earth and if any 
man ever prayed David did. 0, how he plead with 
God for the city ! 

ANGEL WITH DRAWN SWORD. 

It seems that the angel was on the top of Mt. 



144 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



Moriah and at the threshing floor of Oman. The 
Lord heard David's prayer and commanded him 
to go where the angel stood and offer a sacrifice. 
He went with all speed and said to Ornan, " Grant 
me the place of this threshing floor, that I may 
build an altar therein unto the Lord, and thou 
grant it me for the full price ; that the plague may 
be stayed from the people." Ornan said he would 
gladly give up the place and the oxen for a sacri- 
fice. He offered it all free, but David said, "Nay 
I will buy it for the full price ; for I will not take 
that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt 
offerings without cost." Is it any wonder that this 
is the site chosen for the temple which Solomon 
afterwards built and is it any wonder that from 
that time forward Jerusalem was called the City 
of David? 

"As the mountains are round about Jerusalem 
so the Lord is round about His people from hence- 
forth even forever," said the Psalmist. The read- 
er may ask how the mountains can be round about 
the city when it is located on the top of mountains. 
Well here we are on Mt. Scopus on the north 
higher than the city. On the east yonder is the 
memorable Mt. of Olives, also higher than the 
city. On the south is Mount Offiner still higher 
than the city, while on the west are other moun- 
tains, so that the city while located on the top of 
mountains is literally surrounded with mountains 
still higher. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



145 



MOUNT CALVARY. 

As we pass down towards Jerusalem we pause 
at one of the most interesting places about the 
city. It is Mount Calvary, called the Skull Place 
by the Jews. No Jew will pass by it at night if it 
can be avoided, and when they pass in the day 
time they utter a curse against the one who pre- 
sumed to be their king. 

From the ordinary pictures of these places one 
gets an idea that Mount Calvary where the cruci- 
fixion took place was a long distance away from 
the highway, but this is not true. Calvary is a 
small hill by the side of the Damascus road and 
only a few rods from the highway so that people 
passing can talk with those on the hill in the ordin- 
ary conversational tone. 

Standing near Damascus gate of the city of 
Jerusalem Mount Calvary looks like a gigantic 
skull. It is simply a huge mound and there are 
holes in the side of the rock that form a kind of a 
mouth, nose-cavity, eyesockets, etc. It is outside 
the wall and yet near the city. While it answers 
the scripture descriptions even to minute details 
for years no one noticed it or thought of it as 
the place of the crucifixion. 

IN THE TOMB. 

Near by is the tomb which could hardly be bet- 
ter described in a word than by the scriptural nar- 
rative. The limestone wall is almost perpendicu- 
lar and the tomb is cut in the solid rock. By the 
side at the bottom is cut a groove in the solid rock 



146 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



about 8 inches wide and about the same depth. 
The rolling stone is a great flat stone several feet 
in diameter and as wide as the groove. When in 
its place it can be rolled from one end of the groove 
to the other on the principle of a sliding barn 
door. When rolled up to one end it fills or rather 
covers the opening and when rolled away to the 
other end of the groove it leaves the door open. 

What a sacred place ! As Isaac and the writer 
entered this tomb we did not feel like speaking a 
word. Finally Isaac showed how any Jew would 
discover that it was a Jewish tomb — they build 
their tombs a little different than other people. 
He then showed how any one famiilar with Jew- 
ish customs knows that it was a rich man's tomb. 
He then showed how it was never quite finished 
and stated that while many think the Church of 
the Holy Sepulchre, within the city is the place 
where the body of Jesus was laid, yet in his mind 
there was hardly a shadow of a doubt that we 
were in the identical tomb where the body of the 
Saviour was laid. 

This tomb seems to answer exactly to the tomb 
described in John 20:3-10. When Peter and John 
ran to the Sepulchre John was a little the swiftest 
but instead of going in, looked in and saw the 
linen clothes lying. When Peter came he went 
right in and saw not only these clothes that could 
be seen from without, but the "napkin" that was 
wrapped about the head in its place. As there 
was a projection of rock out a little distance and 
the head back in its place the napkin could not be 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



147 



seen except by one who went in. When John went 
in and beheld everything in order and in its place 
just as if the body had been slipped out without 
disturbing a thing from that time forth he be- 
lieved — no one could ever doubt his faith. 

Although we have not entered the city a visit 
to this tomb with an open Bible has richly repaid 
us for all the hardships of the long and tiresome 
journey. What has before seemed far away and 
dead is now near by and alive. Every foot of 
ground in the Holy Land is historic and to go 
over it with the Word of God makes its living. 
Yes, in writing these lines it is a most happy priv- 
ilege to go again, even in thought, over the hills 
that were trodden by the feet of Him who wore 
the crown of thorns. We trust that some day it 
will be our privilege to go with a company of be- 
lievers leasurely over these hills and valleys and 
see again the places that were made sacred by the 
W orld's redeemer. Do you want to go along with 
us next time? 

INTO THE CITY. 

We enter Jerusalem by the Damascus Gate. 
The weather is very hot. This portion of the city 
is very dirty and dust is nearly everywhere. 
Among the poorer classes, many of the people are 
poverty stricken. In all Palestine this is true. 
Beggars are nearly everywhere, and little children 
ask for Backsheesh. Blind people are numerous. 
As we enter the gate of the city, a half dozen 
lepers hold out their stubby hands for alms. 



148 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



It seemed very good to get into an English ho- 
tel. After a horseback ride of more than 100 
miles, it was great to sit down in an easy chair 
on the veranda. Then to get a well cooked meal — 
it was more like dining at a king's table. In spite 
of the long journey and aching limbs, we could not 
sit still but a short time. With Isaac for a guide 
we started out. Soon we were in the Jewish quar- 
ter of the city. The streets here are very narrow\ 
Shops open into the street. Yonder sits a money 
changer. Isaac explained that in Jerusalem one 
must have the exact change if he makes a pur- 
chase. We went up to the money changer and 
procured some small change. The next day as we 
passed this same old man called Isaac and ad- 
mitted that he overchanged his lord on yester- 
day. (Isaac was our guide and the old gentle- 
man spoke of the writer as his lord). It was but 
a fourth of a cent and Isaac proceeded to assure 
him that it was all right, that his lord ( ?) did not 
care for a small amount like that. 

JEWS WAILING PLACE. 

A most interesting and yet sad spot is the Jews 
Wailing Place. It i j by the side of the wall of the 
sacred inclosure (temple area). Some one has 
said that (< By a strange irony of fortune the Jews 
who formerly so rigorously excluded all Gentiles 
from the Temple Area, are now themselves de- 
barred with equal stringency from entering the 
precincts of the 'Noble Sancutary.' " The nearest 
they can approach is the outer wall and here they 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



149 



come in great numbers on Friday and early Sat- 
urday morning. This they do in preparation for 
the Sabbath which of course is Saturday. 

We are sorry that we were not a shorthand re- 
porter to take down seme of the interesting things 
Isaac told us about this the Wailing Place of his 
people. He said among other things that every 
prominent family had a certain stone in the wall 
where they wailed. Many of them weep as if their 
hearts were breaking. They go over the Lamen - 
tations of Jeremiah and the seventy-ninth and 
one hundred second Psalm. Get your Bible and 
read these two Psalms and see how appropriate 
they are. It seems that they were written for this 
purpose and this very place. 

Near the entrance to this wailing place are 
multitudes of beggars. They have learned long 
ago that the Jew when moved to tears over the 
condition of himself and his people, is more sus- 
ceptible than at any other time, and the beggars 
are not slow to take every possible advantage. 
The Jew also believes that if he gives to the first 
one that asks alms after he has prayed by the wall, 
he will be blessed and every beggar tries to be 
first to ask him, and as far as we could make out 
they all succeeded admirably. 

CLEANING UP THE CITY. 

As we pass along Isaac points to a lot of old 
buildings that have no doors. A long time ago 
they were white washed. The occasion was on 
the visit of the German Emperor, a few years be- 
fore. Of course they must clean up the streets 



150 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



and have their city in apple pie order. Well they 
gathered up the refuse, shoveled it into these 
building's, nailed up the doors, and gave the out- 
side a coat of whitewash, and it remained as they 
left it until the visit we are describing, and we 
suppose it is the same way today. 

In this Jewish quarter we see Jews from Rus- 
sia, Germany and nearly every country under 
heaven. On the hottest day some of them will 
have on their heavy clothing. How they talk and 
gesture! Here are several synagogues, but Isaac 
has so much respect for the worship of his fathers 
that he will not enter a synagogue out of curiosity. 
We went into one of their baths and decided if 
we got out all right it would be a long time before 
we entered such a place again. The first room 
was hot, the next still hotter, and the next almost 
unendurable, and the next hotter still. We didn't 
know the way out and Isaac had great fun at our 
misfortune. 

THE SORROWFUL WAY. 

One of the principle streets of Jerusalem is the 
Via Dolorosa, the Sorrowful Way. This is about 
the longest street in the city. The guides tell us 
that Jesus carried the cross along this street. 
Pilate's Arch, or the Arch of Ecco Homo is an 
arch crossing the street. There is a tradition that 
states that Pilate led Jesus out here and said Ecco 
Homo — Behold the Man ! 

In the Lands of the Bible we have this further 
statement as to the Jerusalem guides: "They 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



151 



show not only the exact spot where the cross was 
taken from the shoulder of Jesus and laid on that 
of Simon of Cyrene, but the spots where Jesus 
twice fell under the weight of the cross. They 
show the spot where Jesus spoke to the women 
who followed him; and also at the junction of a 
narrow alley with the street they say that Mary, 
unable to reach her son in the crowd, stood to 
speak to him as he passed. Not content with 
these inventions, they show a depression made by 
the hand of Jesus in the rock of an old wall, and 
the place where St, veronica wiped his face, and 
found that her handkerchief had received the pic- 
ture of his face. ,, 

The above is a sample of the inventions of these 
ingenius guides and they have told these super- 
stitious stories over so often that they easily be- 
lieve them. We heard these stories until we were 
sick and tired of them. 

DAVID STREET. 

David Street is another of the principle thor- 
oughfares of the city. This is one of the first 
streets one notices on entering the city at Joppa 
Gate. We visited many interesting places and 
Isaac showed how many of the customs in vogue 
today throw light upon the scripture narrative. 

In one great massive building we visited a great 
trap door was opened and an old rough looking 
man who seemed to be the keeper of the place 
gave the writer a lighted candle and invited us to 
visit the cavern under the building. After Isaac 



152 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



had assured us that he would stand at the door 
and see that all was well we went down, down 
into a dark cavern similar to a good sized room. 
In this damp foul place the only thing visible was 
a pile of bones — we believe they were the remains 
of human beings. It was a horrid place and we 
shouted to Isaac to ask the old man what he had 
down there. After some jabbering that we could 
not understand the answer came, "nothing but 
bones." If the heavy door had been dropped it 
would have been all over with us for no one could 
halloo loud enough to be heard on the outside of 
the building. 

THE UPPER ROOM. 

A very interesting place is the upioer room, 
where they tell us that Jesus and his disciples ate 
the Last Supper. It is an upper room all right, 
but we can hardly believe the building is but a 
century or two old. In fact Jerusalem has been 
built and destroyed again and again. The proph- 
ecy that "Zion would be plowed as a field" has been 
literally fulfilled. The city as it is today is prac- 
tically a modern city. Very few if any of the 
buildings are more than a few centuries old. It is 
said that they have dug down a hundred feet and 
round the ruins of the city which existed thousands 
of years ago. 

The writer of these lines had one sad day in 
the city. About midnight we became almost 
deathly sick. Early the next morning the doctor 
was called and he said that we must lay very quiet 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



153 



all day — would not dare to turn over in the bed 
and to raise up would be dangerous. He said, 
however, that in the evening we might sit up a 
little. Feeling so much better and really feeling 
that the physician had exaggerated a little in his 
commands we arose from the bed. In a very few 
moments we were unconscious and when con- 
sciousness returned we were back on the bed with 
half a dozen scared people about. In a few min- 
utes the doctor arrived and such another curtain 
lecture we hope never to be the recipient of again. 
He was so much out of patience that he charged us 
double price for his services. 



154 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 

WHILE the Temple of Solomon and the sec- 
ond temple and later the temple of Herod 
that was forty and six years in building have all 
been destroyed , the Temple Area is today as it was 
a thousand years ago. It covers about thirty-six 
acres of ground and is solid rock. Mount Moriah 
as well as Mount Zion are both gigantic rocks. 
Mount Moriah was quite uneven and in order to 
make a level area upon which to build the temple 
the top was in some places hewn off and in other 
places built up with massive masonry. 

It is interesting to note the fullfilling of the 
prophecy of Jesus who said, as he looked at the 
great stones in the temple, "Not one stone shall 
be left upon another." When Titus besieged the 
city and it finally fell into his hands, he gave or- 
ders that the temple be saved. It almost seemed 
that even the Roman leader would prevent the 
fulfillment of the Saviour's prophesy. Some of 
the soldiers in carrying a torch through the temple, 
set fire to some of the drapery and soon the build- 
ing was in flames. Of course no one was much in- 
terested in putting out the fire and the beautiful 
building was destroyed. 

It is said that much of the wood of the temple 
was overlaid with gold and this gold melted and 
run between the cracks and crevices, between the 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



155 



stones and to get this gold every stone in the whole 
temple was moved so that the prophecy was liter- 
ally fulfilled. 

THE GREAT ROCK. 

There is hardly a shadow of a doubt that the 
great Mosque of Omar is situated in the temple 
area exactly where the temple used to stand. 
There is a tradition that in the Holy of Holies in 
the temple there was a projection of the natural 
rock. This is said to be the spot where Abraham 
went to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice and where 
many years later David offered a sacrifice as noted 
on previous page. In this mosque is the only pro- 
jection of the natural rock on Mt. Moriah so it 
must be the place where the temple stood. 

It is no wonder that in the estimation of the 
Jew this rock is by far the most sacred spot on 
earth. It was here that the Shekinah of Glory 
stood all through the years while the temple stood. 
Here was the dwelling place of the Most High. No 
wonder the Jew gets as near this spot as he can 
(the Jews' Wailing Place) and weeps bitter tears. 

This rock is about 60 feet long and almost as 
broad. It is about five feet above the marble floor 
of the mosque which means that it is twelve or 
fifteen feet above the ground on the outside. In a 
portion of this great rock there is a small room 
cut out which is called "The Noble Cave." But 
we are anticipating. We started in to tell how 
cautious one must be to visit this mosque. We 
must tell you what a time one has to get permis- 
sion to make the visit. 



156 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



PERMISSION SECURED. 

A day or two before the visit Isaac and the 
writer went to the American Consul and asked 
that he secure the proper permit from the Turkish 
authorities which he gladly promised to do. 
Promptly at the appointed time we called at his 
office and found his kawass (a servant of the con- 
sul dressed in rather gaudy attire) ready to ac- 
company us. The proper permit had been secured 
and a Turkish soldier soon put in appearance. 
These men must both accompany us and each must 
be given a liberal fee. Also the permit cost money 
so the visit is quite expensive after all. As we 
passed in the gate the Mohammedans about looked 
at us with scorn. They would about as leave kill 
a man as to look at him — in fact if a man should 
attempt to go alone he would likely lose his life. 
Since we made this visit the papers state that one 
man undertook to go into the mosque and the Mo- 
hammedans jumped upon him and beat him so 
that for many weeks he lingered between life and 
death. 

SOME TRADITIONS. 

While we are in the temple area we will call 
attention to some of the Mohammedan traditions. 
Just on the inside of the Mosque of Omar is what 
they call the "Dome of the Chain." Mr. Mac- 
rnillan in his book on Palestine and Egypt says : 
"This name is derived from a curious legend which 
is devoutly believed in by the Moslems of Jerusa- 
lem. They say that King David by Divine direc- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 157 

tion, held his law jcourts on this spot and that 
Divine measures were taken to insure against any 
miscarriage of justice. In order that this might 
be effectually secured, a chain was let down from 
heaven to within about three feet from the ground, 
and when any witness was called upon to give his 
evidence he was required to take hold of this chain 
with both his hands. If his testimony was true 
nothing happened ; if false one link dropped off the 
chain and every one knew that he was telling a 
lie. 

"Now once upon a time there was a lawsuit be- 
tween a Moslem and a Jew. The Moslem had been 
on a Sacred Pilgrimage to Mecca; and before leav- 
ing Jerusalem he had handed to the Jew a certain 
sum of money to hold in trust for him. On his re- 
turn, so he said, the Jew had failed to return the 
money. Hence the lawsuit. Both parties were 
brought to this spot, and the Jew was called upon 
to state his case. He was a very old man, with 
long gray beard and stooping shoulders, and he 
came along leaning upon a very thick and heavy 
staff. In order to take hold of the chain with both 
his hands, he gave his staff to his Moslem antagon- 
ist, who happened to be standing next to him, to 
hold for him; and seizing the chain he said in a 
firm voice : 'I solemnly swear that I have repaid 
the money in question to the Moslem and that he 
has it in his possession at the present moment.' 
Nothing happened. Then came the Moslem's turn, 
and handing back to the Jew his staff he took hold 
of the chain and said: T solemnly swear that I 



158 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



have never received the money from the Jew.' 
Thereupon the chain disappeared up to heaven 
and has never been seen since. 

"The fact was that the crafty old Jew had care- 
fully concealed the money in the hollow of his 
staff ; and therefore when he had handed his staff 
to the Moslem to hold for him he had literally paid 
him back his money and he told the truth when 
he said that the Moslem had the money in his pos- 
session at that very moment. But in as much as 
his intention was to deceive, it was virtually a 
lie; whereas on the other hand the poor Moslem 
honestly thought that he was telling the truth, 
whilst he was swearing unconsciously to some- 
thing which was not the actual fact." 

Mr. Macmillan goes on to say that not even a 
chain let down from heaven can show whether a 
person is telling the truth or not; and therefore 
as it was no longer of any use it was carried back 
to its original destination. This is but a sample 
of the dozens of traditions that these Moslem 
people tell the traveler most earnestly. 

In another part of this Mosque is a square stone 
in the floor. It looks like when it was placed there 
it was soft and a number of spikes were driven in- 
to it as you could drive spikes into newly laid ce- 
ment. Several of these nails have been withdrawn 
and the Moslems tell us that at certain times an 
angel comes down from heaven and pulls out a 
spike. If we remember correctly they told us that 
when the last spike is pulled out that the great 
Mohammed would come back to Jerusalem again. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY, 



159 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

QUITE AN EXPERIENCE. 

I N HIS splendid book "City of the Great King," 
" Mr. Barclay gives an account of how a man 
by the name of Bartlett planned to enter, the 
Mosque of Omar by night. We give the entire ac- 
count : 

"I will now add an account of a visit to the 
mosque attempted by myseif, which, though it 
proved abortive, may arouse the reader, as show- 
ing that in spite of the bigotry of the Musselmans 
in general, individuals are always to be found, 
and often of high standing, who are willing, for 
the sake of a bribe, not only to smuggle the infidel 
into the holy places, but also, rather than fail, to 
violate the established proprieties and rooted 
prejudices of their countrymen. 

"The agent in this instance was a character 
common enough in comedies, viz., an intriguing 
servant belonging to a friend, whose profession 
as hakim brought him into contact with many of 
the better class of Moslems. By his contrivance 
a meeting was brought about, at a house on the 
brow of Mount Zion, looking out on the ruined 
bridge, with an old Turk, who having been previ- 
ously sounded, had expressed his willingness to 
undertake the job. On repairing to the spot, I 
found one of the finest looking old men I ever saw, 
with an open, benevolent countenance and a long 



160 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



silvery beard, dressed in a turban and white robes, 
and looking the very impersonation of one of the 
patriarchs. After mutual salutations, the busi- 
ness was opened by my interpreter, and the best 
means of effecting it were canvassed with great 
earnestness. As I wore neither beard nor mous- 
tache and besides had not been long in the coun- 
try to get thoroughly bronzed, the old man at first 
proposed that I should be dressed as a Turkish 
woman, and walk behind him about the mosque. 
This plan, however, had its objections, and on 
further reflection, he was struck with a most 
original idea, and certainly the last of which I 
should ever have thought. I was to come to his 
house after dark, apparently as a hakim sen! for 
to prescribe for his family, with the intriguing 
servant carrying a box of medicines before me, in 
order to lull suspicion. On arriving at his domi- 
cile, he would have a woman's costume all ready, 
in which I was to dress myself — a disguise, in 
which no doubt many more nefarious pranks 
have been played than I was about to commit. 
Having put on this feminine attire, I was then to 
accompany his wives to the mosque, which would 
at that time be brilliantly illuminated, this being 
the season of Ramadan. The only difficulty, he said, 
would be to talk over his women ; but to persuade 
them into the scheme, he trusted to the efficacy of 
a certain five hundred piasters, which I promised 
to po.y down as soon as we came back to his hou^e, 
after the successful conclusion if the adventure, 
"J now returned home and from, the terrace of 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY 



the hotel watched the red light fade off Mount 
Olivet, and heard the gun fired to give notice to 
all good Moslems that they might now lawfully eat 
their dinners. Darkness soon invested the city, 
relieved only by the brilliant minarets. As the 
time drew near when the servant was to come and 
fetch me, it now suddenly struck me that I had 
embarked in a rather hazardous affair, without 
anything to justify it, but the mere desire to an 
adventure; since it would be impossible, muffied 
up in a female attire, to examine the architectural 
peculiarities of the mosque, even if the act of start- 
ing about would not of itself be enough to betray 
my disguise. In the event of discovery, there 
hardly could be a doubt that death by stoning, or 
some more horrible fate, would be the penalty 
infiicted upon me by the frantic mob, doubly en- 
raged by the violation of the sanctity of the place, 
and at the indecent manner in which it had been 
effected. 

"It was, then, with no little nervousness that I 
listened for the tap at the door which was to an- 
nounce the messenger. About nine he made his 
appearance, informing me that the old man had 
succeeded in talking over his womankind, and that 
everything was in readiness. We then stole forth, 
the servant gravely preceding me, and carrying 
before him a traveling box of medicines. This 
precaution was all but useless, for the streets were 
so dark that it was with difficulty we could grope 
our way ; but here and there we came upon a group 
of Turks sitting out of doors and smoking by the 



162 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



light of paper lanterns. The last of these was in 
the Via Dolorosa, near St. Ann's church ; and I 
thought I recognized among them the ugly visage 
of a lad who had thrown stones at me in the morn- 
ing for approaching too near the mosque, and who 
regarded me with a look of suspicion. 

"At length we reached the house of the old 
Turk. On stepping in, I was conducted, with an 
air of mystery, into an upper chamber, when the 
old Turk came forth and welcomed me. I could 
not but remark that, notwithstanding the confid- 
ence he had previously expressed, his counten- 
ance betrayed no little agitation. He uttered, from 
time to time, a deep sigh, stroked his long beard, 
and, looking up to heaven, muttered what I under- 
stood was a prayer for the happy success of the 
enterprise. In fact, he must have been conscious 
that should a discovery take place, he would be 
certain to forfeit all consideration and character, 
even if subjected to no farther punishment, which, 
however, would most probably be the case. 

DISGUISED. 

"The articles of female dress intended for my 
disguise were now produced, and I was invited to 
put them on. The first difficulty occurred with 
the boots of yellow leather, in which the Turkish 
women waddle, rather than walk, about the 
streets. These were so small that it was impos- 
sible to get them on, and I had therefore to con- 
tent myself with slipping my stockings into a pair 
of red shoes, which only half covered them. My 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



163 



feet seemed alarmingly large and clumsy, and 
very likely to betray my real sex; but the Turk 
and servant said these would do. The next affair 
was to draw over my pantaloons a pair of female 
inexpressibles, which, though of very spacious 
width, turned out, like the boots, to be too small 
scarcely reaching down to the ankles, which stood 
out in strong development. Their sole fastening 
was a pair of strings, intended to be drawn 
around the slender waist, and to rest upon the 
swelling hips of the fair owner; but from the want 
of any such support in my case, they threatened to 
slip bodily down upon the slightest movement. A 
dark veil was now put over my head, so as to en- 
tirely conceal the features, but through which I 
was enabled to see with tolerable clearness; and, 
finally, a large white wrapper, but also too short, 
was thrown over me, completely enveloping all 
but the face. Although I fancied this disguise 
far from complete the old man and the servant, 
after studying it attentively, and asking me to 
v/alk up and down, dropping my head a little, and 
affecting something of a female waddle, looked at 
one another with approving glances, and author- 
itatively announced it to be 'taib.' 

'The servant now explained to me the manner 
of proceeding. When the women were dressed, 
which w r ould be in a few minutes, we were all to 
sally forth together, and enter the enclosure by the 
neighboring gate. I was instructed to keep in the 
middle of the party, to do precisely as they did, 
and to be careful not to stare too much at me. We 



164 LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 

were to go first into the Mosque of Omar, which at 
that moment would be brilliantly lighted up, and 
from thence to that of El Aksa ; returning, after 
a short stay, to the house, where I was then to 
count down the five hundred piasters which I had 
stiplated to give. 

DISAPPOINTED. 

"All was now ready, and I awaited the arrival 
of my female conductors with intense anxiety, not 
altogether unmingled with apprehension. To say 
truth, besides doubts, as to my own successful de- 
portment, I was not without misgivings as to the 
discretion of my companion in a case where, the 
slightest misconduct would involve the most ser- 
ious consequences ; and feared no less, that in 
case of alarm they would suddenly scatter about 
the enclosure, and leave me to get out of it as I 
could. My distrust was greatly increased when I 
heard much chattering without, and when the 
head of the chief lady was projected into the 
apartment, beckoning forth her husband, who fol- 
lowed her into an adjoining room. He returned 
in a moment, evidently much disconcerned, de- 
claring that his wives would only consent to ac- 
company me on previously receiving payment. 
Stroking his beard, he declared that he himself 
had no misgivings whatever, and trusted entirely 
to my honor, but that his wives were rebellious, 
and would listen to no reason. I was doubly an- 
noyed at this — not only because it involved a per- 
sonal affront, and displayed the avaricious eager- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



165 



ness of the women in a disgusting light, but also 
because it confirmed me in my distrust of their 
conduct. To pay them beforehand what was so 
evidently their only inducement to go with me, 
would deprive me of the sole check I might have 
upon their behavior, and I firmly resolved not to 
surrender it, Producing the money, which I had 
brought with me, I declared that it should be 
paid down the very moment we returned, but that, 
after the formal agreement which had been enter- 
ed into, it was doubting my honor to insist upon 
receiving it beforehand. A spirited discussion 
now ensued, the women thrusting their heads into 
the room and taking part in it. I found they were 
divided in opinion, and that it was the obstinacy 
of the chief lady which prevented the conclusion 
of the bargain. The poor old Turk seemed pass- 
ive in their hands, and altogether it afforded a cur- 
ious insight into the manifold tribulations beset- 
ting the possessor of many wives, proving that 
polygamy- is to be regarded as Byron says — 'Not 
only as a sin, but as a bore.' 

"As the women still persisted in their demands, 
I at length got wearied, and throwing off the 
feminine garb in which I was half -suffocated, 
broke off all further negotiation." 



166 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
REBUILDING THE TEMPLE. 

BEFORE LEAVING the temple area we will 
turn aside to give two or three historical in- 
cidents. While the Jews were in captivity, the 
city was sadly neglected and went to ruin. De- 
vout Jews opened their windows toward Jerusa- 
lem and prayed that the time would come when 
they would be gathered home in their city once 
more. Company after company was organized 
and went from Babylonia to their home city once 
more to build again the walls and restore the city. 
Josephus in his antiquities of the Jews, gives 
some most interesting accounts of these attempts 
and tells the story of how the heathen kings were 
persuaded to let them go. We will in this chapter 
give you the story of how Zorabable (Zerubbabel in 
the Bible) won the admiration of King Darius and 
was permitted to lead a company to Jerusalem for 
the purpose of rebuilding the temple. The ac- 
count is found in Antiquities Book XI, Chapter III. 

THE KING'S OFFER. 

"Now in the first year of the king's reign, 
Darius feasted those that were about him, and 
those born in his house, with the rulers of the 
Medes, and princes of the Persians, and the 
toparchs of India and Ethopia and the generals 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



167 



of the armies of his hundred and twenty-seven 
provinces; but when they had eaten and drunk 
to satiety, and abundantly, they every one de- 
parted to go to bed at their own houses, and 
Darius the king went to bed ; but after he had 
rested a little part of the night, he awaked, and 
not being able to sleep any more, he fell into con- 
versation with the three guards of his body, and 
promised, that to him who should make an oration, 
about points that he should inquire or; such as 
should be most agreeable to truth, and to the dic- 
tates of wisdom, he would grant it as a reward 
of his victory, to put on a purple garment, and to 
drink in cups of gold, and to sleep upon gold, and 
to have a chariot with bridles of gold, and a head 
tire of fine linen, and a chain of gold about his 
neck and to sit next to himself, on account of his 
wisdom ; and, says he, he shall be called my cousin. 
Now when he had promised to give them these 
gifts, he asked the first of them, whether wine was 
not the strongest? The second, whether women 
were not such ? Or, whether truth was not strong- 
est of all? When he had proposed that they 
should make their inquiries about these problems, 
he went to rest ; but in the morning he sent for his 
great men, his princes and toparchs of Persia and 
Midia, and sat himself down in the place where 
he used to give audience, and bade each of the 
guards of his body to declare what they thought 
proper concerning the proposed questions in the 
hearing of them all. 



168 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



POWER OF WINE. 
Accordingly, the first of them began to speak 
of the strength of wine and demonstrated it thus : 
'When, said he, I am to give my opinions of wine, 
O you men, I find that it exceeds everything, by 
the following indications : It deceives the minds 
of those who drink it, and reduces that of the king 
to the same state with that of the orphan anct he 
who stands in need of a tutor, and erects that of 
the slave to the boldness of him that is free, and 
that of the needy becomes like that of the rich 
man, for it changes and renews the souls of men 
when it gets into them, and it quenches the sorrow 
of those that are under calamities, and makes men 
forget the debts they owe to others, and makes 
them think themselves to be of all men the richest ; 
it makes them talk of no small things, but of tal- 
ents, and such other names as become wealthy 
men only ; nay, more, it makes them insensible of 
their commanders, and of their kings and takes 
away the remembrance of their friends and com- 
panions, for it arms men even against those that 
are dearest to them, and makes them appear the 
greatest strangers to them; and when they are 
become sober, and they have slept out their wine 
in the night, they arise without knowing any thing 
they have done in their cups; I take these for 
signs of power, and by them discover that vine 
is the strongest and most insuperable of all 
things.' 

POWER OF KINGS. 
As soon as the first had given the foremen- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



169 



tioned demonstration of the strength of wine, he 
left off, and the next to him began to speak about 
the strength of a king, and demonstrated that it 
was the strongest of all, and more powerful than 
any thing else that appears to have any force or 
wisdom. He began his demonstration after the 
following manner, and said, They are men who 
govern all things; they force the earth and the 
sea to become profitable to them in what they de- 
sire, and over these men do kings rule, and over 
them they have authority. Nov/, those men who 
rule over that animal which is of all the strongest 
and most powerful, must needs deserve to be 
esteemed insuperable in power and force; for 
example, when these kings command their sub- 
jects to make war and undergo dangers, they are 
hearkened to, and when they send them against 
their enemies, their power is so great that they 
are obeyed. They command men to level moun- 
tains, and to pull down Avails and towers ; nay, 
when they are commanded to be killed and to kill, 
they submit to it, that they may not appear to 
transgress the king's commands; and when they 
have conquered, they bring what they have gained 
in the war to the king. Those also who are not 
soldiers, but cultivate the ground and plough it, 
and when, after they have endured the labor, and 
all the inconveniences of such works of husbandry, 
they have reaped and gathered in their fruits, 
they bring tributes to the king. And whatsoever 
it is which the king says or commands, it is done 
of necessity, and that without any delay, while 



170 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



he in the meantime is satiated with all sorts of 
food and pleasures and sleeps in quiet. He is 
guarded! by such as watch, and such as are as it 
were fixed down to the place through fear, for no 
one dares leave him, even when he is asleep, nor 
does any one go away and take care of his own 
affairs, but he esteems this one thing the only 
work of necessity, to guard the king, and accord- 
ing to this he wholly addicts himself. How then 
can it be otherwise, but that it must appeal that 
the king exceeds all in strength, while so great 
a multitude obeys his injunctions.' 

POWER OF WOMEN. 

Now when this man had held his peace, the 
third of them, who was Zorababel, began to in- 
struct them about women, and about truth, who 
said thus: 'Wine is strong, as is the king also, 
whom all men obey, but women are superior to 
them in power, for it was a woman that brought 
the king into the world ; and for those that plant 
the vines and make the wine, they are women who 
bear them, and bring them up ; nor indeed is there 
anything which we do not receive from them; 
for these women weave garments for us, and our 
household affairs are by their means taken care of, 
and preserved in safety ; nor can we live separate 
from women. And when we have gotten a great 
deal of gold and silver, and any other thing that 
is of great value, and deserving regard and see a 
beautiful woman, we leave all things, and with 
open mouth fix our eyes upon her countenance, 
and are billing to forsake what we have, that we 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



171 



may enjoy her beauty, and procure it to ourselves. 
We also leave father, and mother, and the earth 
thatnourishesus,and frequently forget our dearest 
friends, for the sake of women; nay, we are so 
hardy as to lay down our lives for them. But will 
chiefly make you take notice of the strength of 
women, is this that follows ; do we not take pains, 
and endure a great deal of trouble, and that both 
by land and sea, and when we have procured some- 
what as the fruit of our labors, do we not bring 
them to the women, as to our mistresses, and be- 
stow them upon them ? Nay, I once saw the king, 
who is lord of so many people, smitten on the face 
by Apame, the daughter of Rabsases Themasius, 
his concubine, and his diadem taken from him, 
and put upon her own head, while he bore it 
patiently; and when she smiled he smiled, and 
when she was angry he was sad; and according 
to the change of her passions, he flattered his wife, 
and drew her to a reconciliation by the great 
humiliation of himself to her, if at any time he 
saw her displeased at him/ 

POWER OF TRUTH. 

And when the princes and rulers looked one 
upon another, he began to speak about truth, and 
he said, 'I have already demonstrated how power- 
ful women are ; but both these women themselves, 
and the king himself, are weaker than truth, for 
although the earth be large, and the heaven high, 
and the course of the sun swift, yet are all these 

moved according to the will of God who is true 
and righteous, for which cause we also ought to 



172 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



esteem truth to be strongest of all things, and that 
what is unrighteous is of no force against it. 
Moreover, all things else that have strength are 
mortal and short lived but truth is a thing that is 
immortal and eternal. It affords us not indeed 
such a beauty as will wither away by time, not 
such riches as may be taken away by fortune, but 
righteous rules and laws. It distinguishes them 
from injustice, and puts what is unrighteous to 
rebuke/ 

KING GIVES PERMISSION. 

So when Zorobable had left off his discourse 
about truth, and the multitude had cried out aloud 
that he had spoken the most wisely, and that it 
was truth alone that had immutable strength, and 
such as never would wax old, the king commanded 
that he should ask for somewhat over and above 
what he had promised, for that he would give it 
him because of his wisdom, and that prudence 
wherein he exceeded the rest, and thou shalt sit 
with me, said the king, and shalt be called my 
cousin. When he had said this, Zorobable put him 
in mind of the vow he had made, in case he should 
ever have the kingdom. Now this vow was, 'To 
rebuild Jerusalem, and to build therein the temple 
of God; as also to restore the vessels which 
Nebuchadnezzar had pillaged, and carried to 
Babylon.' And this, said he, is that request which 
thou now permittest me to make, on account that 
I have been judged to be wise and understanding. 

So the king was pleased with what he Had said, 
and arose and kissed him; and wrote to the 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



173 



toparchs and governors, and enjoined them to 
conduct Zorobable and those that were going with 
him to build the temple. He also sent letters to 
those rulers that were in Syria and Phoenecia, to 
cut down and carry cedar trees from Lebanon to 
Jerusalem, and to assist him in building the city. 
He also wrote to them, that all the captives who 
should go to Judea should be free; and he pro- 
hibited his deputies and governors to lay any 
king's taxes upon the Jews ; he also permitted that 
they should have all that land which they could 
possess themselves of without tributes." 



174 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE GATES OF THE CITY. 

4 NCIENT Jerusalem had more than a dozen 
*k gates. There were probably three gates on 
each side and the New Jerusalem that John the 
Revelator saw was like it in that respect. Modern 
Jerusalem has several prominent portals. 

JAFFA GATE. 

The principal entrance is the Jaffa Gate. It is 
on the west or rather southwest. The city has 
extended beyond the walls and today thousands 
of people live outside of the city walls. The Jaffa 
Gate is the busiest part of the city. Great crowds 
of people are there all hours in the day. Many 
bazaars are located near by. Every day we were 
in the city and went near the Jaffa Gate an in- 
teresting company was there. 

First there were strangers from afar. Great 
caravans from Egypt and the south arrive and de- 
part often. Beggars were on all sides. Outside 
the gate and down below the lepers gather and as 
some of them held out their stubby hands and 
asked for backsheesh one would almost shudder at 
the hideous spectacle they present. Just across 
the way is located the Lepers Home, but they don't 
like to go there. It is to them something similar 
to the poor house in this country— but few care 
to go there. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



175 



The "Jaffa Gate" is sometimes called the Gate 
of Bethlehem, because it is on the side of the city 
toward Bethlehem. One of the best carriage roads 
in Palestine is the road to Bethlehem and Hebron. 

ZION'S GATE. 

On the south is located "Zion's Gate." It is said 
the Arabs call this the Gate of the Prophet David. 
Near by is the "Dung Gate." Mr. MacMiilan well 
says : "It is well to enter within this gate and to 
climb to the top of the tower above it, which is 
reached by a stone staircase from the inner side 
of the walls; for the view from this spot is ex- 
tremely interesting and extensive. The western 
wall of the Temple Area is best seen from this 
point. The large open space covered with dense 
thickets of cactus immediately inside the walls 
stand on the side of the old Tyrophean Valley 
which separated Zion on the west from Moriah on 
the east, but which is now in a great measure 
fitted up by the immense accumulations of earth 
and debris which cover the original bed of the 
valley." 

GOLDEN GATE. 

The "Golden Gate" is walled up and carefully 
guarded by the Moslems. Their idea is that when 
the Messiah returns to set up his throne on the 
Temple Area He will enter this gate in triumph. 

"St. Stephen's Gate" is also called the "Gate of 
Our Lady Mary." No doubt because the road 
from it leads down to what is known as the "Vir- 
gin's Tomb." 



176 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



"On the north is the "Damascus Gate." It was 
no doubt through this gate that Jesus carried the 
Cross on the way to Mt. Calvary which is but a 
short distance away. Mr. Barclay says there are 
in all ten gates, but we did not see that many, al- 
though we went entirely around the city. We 
will tell you about this trip in the next chapter. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



177 



CHAPTER XXI. 



AROUND THE CITY OF JERUSALEM. 
GIVE our readers an idea of what is to be 



* seen around about Jerusalem the following 
is a journey of but half a day. We were certainly 
^ery fortunate in having for a guide a con- 
verted Jew, a son of a Rabbi whose people, all 
but one sister, deserted and disinherited him 
when he became a Christian. As he was reared 
in Jerusalem and knows every foot of the ground 
it would not do to question him when he said we 
would need horses for the afternoon, although it 
seemed a little extravagant, but long before night 
the wisdom of it was clearly shown. 



Promptly at one o'clock we mounted our horses 
and started. Passing the lower pool of Gihon 
which is several hundred feet square, we rode 
down the Valley of Hinnom which really forms 
the southern boundary of the city, the wall being- 
built near the top of the north side. On the south 
side of this valley is the Hill of Evil Counsel, 
where according to tradition was located the 
House of Caiaphas and the place where Judas took 
council with the chief priests for the betrayal of 
Jesus. About half was down the valley, on the 
right is a rocky plateau with a precipitous face 
overlooking the valley which is said to be the spot 




DOWN THE VALLEY OF HINNOM. 



178 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



where Judas committed suicide, first hanging 
himself and falling down his body burst open. It 
is called today Aceldama or the "Place of Blood." 
It was in the lowest part of this valley that the 
horrible child sacrifices to Tophet were held in 
the days of long ago when the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem made their sons and daughters "to 
pass through the fire of Moloch." (II Kings 22: 
10.) A perpetual fire was also kept continually 
burning here to destroy the refuse of the city, 
hence the place was called Gehenna and often 
spoken of as a type of hell. (Mark 9 :48.) 

Now we leave our horses with a boy (there are 
always plenty at hand) and go down into the pool 
of Siloam, recalling the story of the blind man 
whom the Master sent here to wash that he might 
see. A little below is a large spring known 
as "Job's Well," which marks the junction of the 
Valleys of Hinnom and Jehosaphat and is the site 
of Enrogel, where Adonijah summoned his fol- 
lowers to proclaim him king. (I Kings 1:9.) 
Near by is "Isaiah's tree," where the prophet was 
sawn asunder according to tradition. Perched 
on the side of the hill on the right is the village of 
Siloam where the Tower of Siloam was located 
and in the fall of which 18 men were killed. (Luke 
13:4.) 

UP VALLEY OF JEHOSAPHAT. 

As we ride up the valley of Jehosaphat we cross 
the brook. Kedron and see the lepers colony and 
at most any time in the day one meets the poor 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



179 



miserable creatures and as they hold out their 
stubby hands for money perhaps their fingers 
have all dropped off. O, that the Saviour was 
present to touch them as in days of old, for now 
no one else will. We were glad to find that the good 
people have built a magnificent home for them, but 
strange as it may seem they look upon it as a 
prison and many of them will not stay in it. On 
the side of the hill is a vast Jewish cemetery and 
near by are the tombs bearing the names of 
Zechariah and James the Apostle. We visit 
Absolem's Pillar, the tomb that the Jew hurls a 
stone at if he passes it on Friday. 

Our Jewish friend pointed out a splen- 
did building not far away that was built by a 
wealthy Jew many years ago, who believed the 
Messiah was soon to come. Every evening even 
yet the inhabitants of that place dress up and go 
out to see the coming one. This they have done 
every evening for 25 years. 

One of the most interesting spots in all the 
country is near and again we dismount, leave our 
horses and as we pass through a gate the Garden 
of Gethsemane with all its sacred memories was 
before us. This garden belongs to the Monks at 
the present time and is walled in and kept beauti- 
ful. Here are some of the oldest olive trees in all 
Palestine. There is, no doubt about this being 
the actual garden where Jesus prayed so earnestly 
and if these are not the trees they undoubtedly 
come from the trees that stood here in the time 
of Christ. Near the garden is the Grotto of the 



180 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



Agony and not far away is an underground chapel 
in which is the so-called Virgins Tomb. While 
there is not much ground for thinking that the 
mother of Jesus was buried here yet it is a most 
interesting place to visit. 

MOUNT OF OLIVES. 

Now we ascend the Mount of Olives along the 
path that David followed when he was fleeing 
from a rebellious son. "And David went up by the 
ascent of Mt. Olivet, and wept as he went up, 
and had his head covered and he went barefoot; 
and all the people that with him covered every 
man his head, and they went up weeping as they 
went." II Sam. 15:30. Also there is no doubt 
that a greater than David went up this path many 
times as he went to Bethany. It was along 
this path that the cursing of the barren fig tree 
took place and perhaps near the top of the hill 
that He sat when He wept over Jerusalem saying : 
"0. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have 
gathered you as a hen gathereth her brood under 
her wing and ye would not." There is on the 
other side of the Mount an old road which is likely 
the one He passed over as He entered the city in 
triumph. 

On the top of the Mount of Olives are several 
churches and so called sacred places. One is called 
the ''Church of Pater Nosfer," where Christ is 
said to have taught His disciples the memorable 
prayer. It was built by a rich Princess and in it 
is the Lord's prayer in 32 diiferent languages, in- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



181 



scribed on slabs in the corridors. Another inter- 
esting place is the Church of Ascension which 
stands over the traditional site of the ascension. 
In connection with this is a high tower ; as we went 
up the winding stairway we counted 276 steps. It 
is a tiresome climb but the view from the top 
pays for all the trouble. 

TOMB OF LAZARUS. 

Now we went galloping down to Bethany and 
first visited the traditional Tomb of Lazarus. To 
get into it you take lighted candles and go down 
about 30 steps. While it is an old tomb it is not 
likely that Lazarus was laid away in it. The tra- 
ditional house of Mary and Martha and the so- 
called house of Simon, the leper, are pointed out 
but are hardly worth a visit. 

Galloping back over the mountain and across 
the valley we passed by the Place of Stoning. This 
is a precipitous place and at the bottom are great 
craggy rocks. We had always supposed that when 
the Jews stoned a man they just threw stones at 
him until his life was crushed out, but our friend, 
the Jew, laughed at us for believing such. He 
said they brought the criminal here, bound his 
arms fast behind him and pushed him oft' face for- 
ward, the chief witness giving him the first push, 
and the fall was most always fatal ; in order that 
their work might be sure, however, they rolled 
great stones to the edge and let them fall upon 
his body until it was ground to a pulp. He also 



182 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



said the language of Christ "And whosoever shall 
fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whomso- 
ever it shall fall it will grind him to powder," was 
taken from this idea. 

Next we went to the Pool cf Bethesda, which 
was by the sheep market and had five porches. 
This pool is also reached By going down some 
stone steps and the water in it is as clear as crys- 
tal. At the gate beneath the arch the scripture 
which tells about it is written in 51 different 
languages. 

TOMBS OF THE KINGS. 

Coming back from the Pool of Bethesda we ride 
out to visit the Tombs of the Kings, which are the 
most wonderful rock cut chambers we ever visited. 
Here is a gigantic court 90x80 feet cut from the 
solid rock. To reach this court one must go down 
a board rock cut stairway of 24 steps. Then there 
is a portico which leads into the Tombs, The 
rolling stone is still in its groove. 

In the tombs there are receptacles for more than 
70 people. These are not the tombs of the Kings 
of Judah, but are supposed to have been built by 
later kings or queens. Josephus has something to 
say about them. Not far away are Solomon's 
Quarries which are especially interesting to the 
Masonic Fraternity. A recent writer says of 
these quarries: "They were discovered a few 
decades ago by accident. According to Mr. Wal- 
lace's report, Dr. Barclay, an American tourist, 
and as he passed along the north wall of the city 
his dog disappeared beneath the wall. Following 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



183 



him Dr. Barclay discovered the entrance almost 
entirely closed with rubbish, of these grottoes or 
quarries. When explored they were found to be a 
place from which vast quantities of white stone 
had been taken for building purposes,, enough, 
some engineers have estimated, to build the pres- 
ent Jerusalem two or three times over. 

The exceeding whiteness of the stone, its near- 
ness to the Temple area, its suitability for build- 
ing purposes — being soft when first quarried but 
hardening on exposure — the great chamber deep 
in stone chippings, where vast quantities of the 
quarried stone had been cut into shape — suggest- 
ing the allusion to the Temple having been put to- 
gether without the sound of the hammer or saw — 
all these and other considerations conspired to 
establish the idea that has since taken hold of the 
public mind that here, indeed, was the place of 
which Josephus and the Old Testament spoke in 
connection with the building of the Temple. Hence 
the name that attached itself to the place — i. e., 
Solomon's Quarries. 

It is, of course, the assumed relation of King 
Solomon to these caverns that gives them the in- 
terest they possess in the minds of Masons. The 
quarries extend for a distance of about 1,000 
feet, and there is one particular chamber deep 
down in the very heart of the cavern that for 
some reason possesses a particular charm for 
Masons. The manner of hewing out the deep 
grooves on each side of the block, and at its top 
and bottom, and the way the wedges were intro- 



184 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



duced at the back for breaking the block from its 
bedrock, can all be plainly traced, as well as the 
niches for the workmen's lamps." 

Coming back we see again the Skull Place (Mt. 
Calvary) and enter the Damascus Gate well satis- 
fied with the trip almost around the city. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



185 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 

B 3 FORE bidding goodby to the city of the Great 
King we will give a word picture of the Siege 
of Jerusalem. This article was written by the edi- 
tor of the Christian Union several years ago and 
the facts mentioned are largely from the works of 
Josephus. 

On the pages of history are recorded many 
memorable sieges which have caused untold suffer- 
ing. In the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar it is 
said that the city held out for thirteen years, In 
the siege of Platea the Greeks were shut up in 
their city for two long years, after which every 
one of them was put to death. In the siege of 
Carthage, "Temples were turned into workshops 
and women cut off their long hair for material to 
make strings for their catapults; fifty thousand 
men, women and children were carried away cap- 
tives and the city so completely destroyed that 
even Scipio, the enemy, shed tears of anguish at 
the sight of its ruins. But the most memorable 
siege of history was the siege of Jerusalem by 
Titus. 

If we can rely upon the account given by Jose- 
phus, Jerusalem was a city with more than twelve 
hundred thousand inhabitants ; it was situated up- 
on two hills and surrounded by three walls. Here 



186 LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 

King Solomon built that magnificent temple said 
to have been the finest building of the world's his- 
tory. It was here the Jews gathered from "every 
nation under heaven" to attend the three great 
yearly feasts. It was called by many writers, 
"The Meeting Place of Nations." Judea had been 
under Roman rule since the days of Julius Caesar. 
In the year 66 after Christ the Jews became much 
dissatisfied with their government. The Roman 
governors had driven the people to the verge of 
despair by their tyranny. Even Tacitus admits 
that the endurance of the oppressed Jews could 
last no longer. They, however, took an unwise 
course t© secure redress for their evil treatment. 
Herod Agrippa warned them of the folly of op- 
posing Rome but they, goaded to madness, took up 
arms to avenge their wrongs. 

GENERAL VESPASIAN. 

Nero, the emperor of Rome, entrusted the con- 
duct of the Jewish wars to Vespasian, his most 
trusted and faithful general. Josephus, the his- 
torian, had command of the insurgents, but the 
Jews from some cause distrusted him and he 
them, hence there arose a great contention among 
them which caused them untold suffering. In a 
short time the Romans were masters of all Gal- 
lilee. Josephus was taken prisoner at Jotapata, 
but by his brave resistance he won the respect and 
admiration of Vespasian. Those who escaped 
took refuge in Jerusalem where they told the story 
of their misfortunes and laid the blame upon 
Josephus and the aristocratic government as hav- 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



187 



ing no heart for the common cause and treachery 
for their motto. When this news was brought to 
Jerusalem the Zealots, headed by a priest who 
was an enemy of Josephus undertook to overflow 
the existing government and did succeed in de- 
stroying the old magistracy and in putting to 
death many respectable citizens. 

In the meantime Vespasian had subdued almost 
the whole country and was ready to besiege Jeru- 
salem when tidings reached him of the death of 
Nero. For almost two years war was suspended, 
at the end of which time Vespasian, who was now 
emperor, entrusted to his son Titus the task of 
subduing Jerusalem. Then began that "great 
tribulation such as had not been from the begin- 
ning of the world." It was in the year 79 after 
Christ. The Jews inside the city were still fight- 
ing among themselves. In their warring with 
each other they had destroyed nearly all the grain, 
of which a large quantity had been kept for use 
in case of a siege. Such was the condition of the 
Jews when Titus appeared before the city with 
his mighty army. 

BUILDING BREAST WORKS. 
After much labor building breast works and 
using battering rams the first two walls were 
broken through and now for some reason Titus 
ordered the work to cease for a time. Then he 
tried, both personally and with Josephus as a 
mediator to persuade the Jews to accept terms of 
peace, as it was only a question of a little time 
when his army would be in the city and it would 



188 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



be the worse for them. The great mystery to the 
student of history is why did they refuse to accept 
Caesar's offer of peace, for at this very time their 
supply of provisions was almost exhausted and 
people were already starving to death. But they 
would not listen to Titus himself and when Jo- 
sephus reminded them that two walls had already 
been destroyed, that the Romans desired peace 
and had a reverence for their sacred rites and 
places, and that the power of Caesar was invinc- 
ible, they only laughed at him and threw darts 
at him. Then he reminded them of the principal 
events of their past history, how God had already 
forsaken them when they became so wicked and 
refused to do better and closed his speech with 
these words : "I am sensible that this danger will 
extend to my mother and wife who are inside the 
city, also that family of mine which has been by 
no means ignoble, and indeed one that hath been 
very eminent in old time and perhaps you may 
imagine that it is on their account only that I 
give this advice. If that be all kill them; nay 
take my own blood as a reward if it may but pro- 
cure your preservation, for I am ready to die in 
case you will return to a sound mind after my 
death/' Instead of being moved by these noble 
words it only angered them the more and if any 
one showed the least shadow of suspicion of de- 
serting to the Romans his throat was cut im- 
mediately. 

TERRIBLE SUFFERING. 

Wfeen Titus perceived that words were useless 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



189 



he ordered the third wall to he attacked. It is 
almost impossible for the human mind to con- 
ceive of the awful suffering and the fiendish in- 
humanity of the people from this time until the 
taking of the city. Josephus says : 'That even at 
this time the sight was so miserable that it would 
justly bring tears to one's eyes. People who 
were rich gave all they had for one measure of 
wheat or barley, after which they would shut them- 
selves up in a room and eat what they had sought 
without even grinding. But the famine was too 
hard for all other passions ; and it was destructive 
to nothing so much as immodesty for what was 
otherwise worthy of reverence was in this case 
despised. " When a house was shut up it was a 
signal that those inside had received some food. 
Immediately the door was broken open, and old 
men who held to the food they were eating were 
beaten unmercifully. If women held a morsel be- 
tween their hands their hair was torn and the last 
bite taken from them. Neither did they pity 
the little children or the aged but snatched the 
grain from them even if they were in a perishing- 
condition. They also invented terrible methods of 
torture to discover where any food was hidden. 
A person was forced to bear what is even terrible 
to hear in order to make him confess that he 
had a loaf of bread or a handful of barley con- 
cealed. It was a common thing to see a mother 
take the last mouthful of food from her starving 
child. 

Once more Titus exhorted them to leave off 



19& 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



their madness and not force him to destroy the 
city, and told them they would have advantages 
of repentance and save not only their lives but 
that magnificent temple which was their peculiar 
glory. But they yielded not, They cast reproaches 
upon him and his father and promised vengeance 
upon the Romans so long as they lived. 

SILENCE OF DEATH. 

The famine widened its progress; it devoured 
the people by whole families; the upper rooms 
were full of women and children dying of hunger ; 
the lanes of the city were strewn with dead bodies 
of the aged; young men wandered about the 
streets and market places like shadows. To bury 
the dead was impossible ; there was no one able to 
do it. Nor were there any lamentations made 
under these awful calamities, nor any mournful 
complaints heard, for the famine had confounded 
all natural passions. Parents looked upon their 
starving children, with dry eyes and open mouths. 
A kind of deadly silence had seized upon the city 
and no noise was heard. 

After consuming everything even to the leather 
upon their girdles and shields and things that the 
lowest animals would not touch, they did some- 
thing for which there is no parallel in the history 
of other nations, that is, mothers killed their own 
infants and ate their flesh. But why recount more 
of these awful doings? These few facts — and 
they are only a very few — are sufficient to give us 
an idea of the horrible calamities that people have 
brought upon themselves in ages past. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



191 



To conclude we are told that in this siege 
1,100,000 people perished. The children under 
17 years of age who survived were sold as slaves 
until the markets were glutted and, as Moses had 
prophesied, "No man would buy them." Some 
were sent to the provincial amphitheatres and 
some were saved to grace the triumph of the con- 
queror. The magnificent temple was so complete- 
ly destroyed that "not one stone was left upon an- 
other" and for 50 years the city of Jerusalem en- 
tirely disappeared from history. 



192 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

ON THE WAY TO BETHLEHEM. 

A BOUT 8 o'clock in the morning a carriage 
rl drove up to the hotel door to take us to 
Bethlehem, the Birthplace of the Redeemer. We 
had looked forward to this visit to the City of 
David with great anticipation and could hardly 
wait for the hour as the sun is high in the heavens 
at 8 o ? clock on a July morning. 

As we pass the Jaffa Gate there is a great 
crowd of people. Several caravans had just ar- 
rived from the Land of the Pharoahs and other 
caravans were ready to start out on a long jour- 
ney. As we pass down the hill the tomb of David 
is to the east and across the valley is the Mount 
of Offence where Solomon allowed the god Moloch 
to open its arms and take little children as sacri- 
fices. 

Now w r e cross the bridge at the lower end of the 
Pool of Gihon and go up the hill past the great 
Almshouse built by Montefoire, the wealthy Jew 
for the unfortunate of his own race. The large 
Ophthalmic Hospital is near by and it is cer- 
tainly needed for there are many blind people in 
Palestine. It is said that at Gaza one-fifth of the 
population is blind. The hot sun and high wind 
blowing sand is one cause of this condition, but 
not the worst for many times one sees little in- 
fants with great bunches of flies on their dirty 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



193 



faces, it sometimes being impossible to see their 
eyes on account of the flies. 

CROWDS OF PEOPLE. 
The Bethlehem road is crowded with people. 
Here are camel trains, several camels bearing 
great loads and tied to each other. Then there 
are carts and wagons and many people on foot. 
Women carrying baskets and sacks. Nearly all 
are bareheaded and barefooted. As our carriage 
stops we notice a gang of workmen pounding rock 
and repairing the road — we said workmen — but 
should have said workwomen, as they are nearly 
all women. 

Every foot of this ground is historic. We have 
just passed the Plain of Rephaim or Valley of the 
Giants where many battles between the Israelites 
and Philistines were fought. Not far away was 
the great battle between David and Goliah. It is 
a relief to stop and rest a few moments at the 
Well of the Magi. Mr. MacMillian gives the 
ancient tradition concerning it as follows: "As 
the Wise Men from the East were trudging along 
this road in the gathering twilight, weary and 
disappointed from the fruitless search for the 
King of the Jews in Jerusalem, they sat down on 
the margin of this well to rest. Stooping forward 
to draw some water to drink, they saw to their 
surprise, clearly reflected in the still clear surface 
of the water, that identical apparition which had 
led them from the East to Jerusalem. This caused 
them to lift their eyes heavenward and then in 
the words of the sacred evangelist, 'Lo, the star, 



194 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



which they saw in the East, went before them, 
till it came and stood over where the young child 
was/" (Matt. 2:9.) 

WHERE ELIJAH SLEPT. 

On the crest of the hill farther along is the 
Convent of Mar Elias. There is an old tradition 
which states that Elijah rested here on his flight 
to Horeb. The Monks tell us that Elijah slept one 
night on one of these stones and that the depres- 
sion in the stone was caused by his body. Bro. 
Sweeney suggests that if this be true the stone 
was much softer than it is now or Elijah must 
have been a very hard man. 

An interesting place along the way is Rachel's 
Tomb. There is little doubt that this is really the 
place where Rachel was buried for the sacred 
writer says, "Rachel died and was buried in the 
way to Ephrath which is Bethlehem. (Gen. 
35:19.) 

It is only a short distance from Rachel's Tomb 
to Bethlehem. The buildings are more substan- 
tial than any we have heretofore seen outside of 
a city. Olive groves are in abundance. As we 
look at the city it is really beautiful. The houses 
are white limestone that has the appearance of 
marble if you are some distance away. 

Bethlehem is one of the cleanest cities in Pales- 
tine. People are cleaner and there are but few 
beggars to harrass the visitor. It is said there are 
more Christians in Bethlehem than any other city 
of its size in all this country- Here is said to be 



LANDS OF SACPwED STORY. 



195 



the oldest church in existence., the Church of the 
Nativity. Of course we went down into the 
"Grotto of the Manger" and saw the reputed 
birthplace of the Redeemer. A silver star now 
marks the place where the new born king was laid. 



196 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

HOMEWARD BOUND. 

| T WAS a great relief to turn our face toward 
* home. Although very weak from a short ill- 
ness we were glad when the morning arrived to 
start toward home. Isaac said he would go to 
Joppa with us and see that everything was all 
right. So about 8 :S0 a. m. we were on the train 
ready to start. 

Starting out from Jerusalem the train is soon 
in the Plain of Rephaim where the Philistines 
were defeated by David again and again. Pass- 
ing on we soon come to the place where Baroche- 
bas, the noted Jew made his last stand against the 
Romans, A. D. 136. Isaac mentioned this noted 
man whose name really means "Son of a Star" 
many times. He must have been a great warrior. 

Passing Bethshemesh the place where the Ark 
was brought from Ekron (1 Sam. 6:12) we soon 
reached the place which has been identified with 
the Ebenezer of the Bible. This "Stone of Help" 
was set up by Samuel. See 1 Sam. 7:12. The 
valley farther on is the birthplace and old home 
of Samson. This "Valley of Sorek" was the scene 
of the romantic incident in the history of Samson 
•and Delilah. 

Hurrying on through the Plain of Sharon we 
soon come to Ramleh which has been identified 
with Arimathea, the home of Joseph. Lydda is 



LANDS OF SACKED STORY. 



197 



the last station before we reach Joppa or Jaffa as 
it is now called. 

JAFFA. 

On reaching Jaffa we looked out in the harbor 
a mile away and saw what we supposed was the 
Russian ship bound for Smyrna and upon which 
Ave were to sail. Imagine our surprise and 
chagrin as well when we asked for a ticket to 
Smyrna the agent said, "Sorry sir, but the cap- 
tain of the ship was wired from the office of the 
steamship company just before leaving Egypt to 
not touch Jaffa." 0, what a disappointment! 
"When will there be another ship/' was our ques- 
tion? "One week from today, sir, if the weather 
is fine" — unless the weather is fine ships cannot 
anchor in the dangerous harbor at Jaffa. "Where 
is yonder ship going?" we asked. "To Port Said, 
Egypt," was his reply. "All right make out a 
ticket for Port Said," was our reply. We knew 
that we would not have to wait a week for a ship 
there for it is the terminus of the Suez Canal and 
there are a half dozen steamship lines with ves- 
sels passing nearly every day. 

The next day found us in this Egyptian city, 
and from there we went back to Alexandria, 
where we spent a couple of days in bed sick and 
that at a hotel where no one could speak English. 
Maybe the reader thinks those were not long days 
— if so you are mistaken. From this city we took 
passage on a Russian ship for Pireaus, the sea- 
port of Athens which we will tell you something 
about in the next chapter. 



198 



LANDS OF SAC RED STORY. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

ATHENS is one of the most historic cities in the 
world. In the time of Paul the Athenians 
spent their time "in nothing else, but either to tell 
or hear some new thing." Acts 17 :21. The mere 
mentioning of the name Athens, brings to mind 
some of the greatest philosophers, poets, artists 
and statesmen of the world's history .The days 
of its greatness, however, have long since gone by 
and now we pass through its streets and behold 
its ruins with wonder and admiration. 

On account of the celebrated games from which 
the Apostle Paul drew many lessons, the first place 
we visited was the Stadium. This was originally 
built by Lycurgus, 350 years before Christ. It is 
located between two hills and the arena was 671 
feet long and 19 feet broad and in the form of a 
semicircle. There were about 60 rows of seats 
around the three sides and 50,000 people could be 
easily accommodated. These seats were of 
marble, and the quantity required was so great 
that the supply was almost exhausted. This great 
ruin has been reconstructed by a rich Greek of 
Alexandria and the seats are all made of white 
marble. 

About all that remains of the Olympian or 
Temple of Jupiter, is fifteen massive corinthian 
columns standing on the spot. This was originally 
one of the largest temples of antiquity and had a 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



199 



statue of Jupiter, overlaid with gold and ivory 
which was 60 feet high. 

Passing "Diogenes Lantern" we next visited the 
Theatre of Bacchus, which has been called the 
"cradle of dramatic art." On its stage Aeschylus, 
Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes had their 
masterpieces represented. 

Plato says the theatre held more than 30,000 
spectators. The Odeon of Herod Atticus is an- 
other theatre, not far away the ruins of which 
are in a fair state of preservation. It was far 
more expensive than that of Bacchus, was orig- 
inally covered, and was more for the 400 than 
the common people. 

MARS HILL. 

The Areopagus came next and was far more 
interesting to us than the ruins just mentioned. 
A flight of 25 steps cut in the rock leads to the 
summit where are still to be seen the sites on 
which rose the altars. Here the tribunal of the 
Areopagus sat in open air. It dates back to pre- 
historic times and was the place the god Mars ap- 
peared to justify himself of murder, and from 
which occurrence it took the name of Mars Hill. 
It was on this hill that the Apostle Paul stood 
when he preached that famous discourse which 
begins, "Men of Athens I perceive that in all 
things ye are too superstitious," or very religious. 
See Acts 17:16-34. His work was not in vain for 
Dionysius, the Areopagite was converted and a 
little to the west of this hill is the foundation of a 



200 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



very ancient church which was dedicated to this 
first Athenian convert to Christianity. 

The greatest ruin of antiquity that we have 
yet seen, however, is the Acropolis. One can 
hardly describe this ruin. It must be seen to be 
appreciated. It is a great rock several hundred 
feet high and is inaccessible except in one place. 

We should judge that it covers three or four 
acres of ground. It used to be the residence of 
the kings and later was made a fort. Themistocles 
and Cimon surrounded it with massive walls and 
Pericles adorned it with magnificent edifices the 
ruins of which excite the admiration of every vis- 
itor. On the top is the Parthenon which as one 
has said is "that inimitable masterpiece of an- 
tiquity, that eternal study, that eternal despair of 
the architects of all ages and all countries/' It is 
the first object that comes into view on whatever 
side one approaches Athens. 

Before leaving Athens, of course, we must visit 
the royal palace. On entering the guards inter- 
fered in a way that showed they meant business. 
They finally made out that we were from Amer- 
ica and sent for an officer who could speak Eng- 
lish. This officer asked us many questions. He 
must know whence we came and whither we were 
going, our business in Greece, etc. Finally he 
took us through the stately palace and as we were 

a distinguished ( ?) visitor he allowed us to go 
into the throne room. When he turned on the 
powerful lights the room was wonderful to be- 
hold, the walls and ceiling being partly overlaid 
with pure gold. 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



201 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

FROM ATHENS to Patras is seven and a half 
hours by train and we were not asleep when 
we passed through Corinth you may be assured. 
Reaching Patras about dark the first thing in or- 
der was supper and as we had only a little Greek 
money supper took the most of it. Imagine our 
surprise and chagrin, as well on reaching the pier, 
to find the ship quite a distance away, for we had 
been told that ship came alongside the landing. 
We offered a boatman all tne Greek money we had 
to take us to the ship and he said, "Get in, sir." 
Well, just before we stepped upon the ship stair- 
way we paid him and he immediately rowed the 
boat away they (there were two of them) must 
have more money. Now what should we do? We 
told them to give our money back and they did so. 
"Now take me to the shore or to the ship," said I, 
with all the power I could get into my voice. They 
thought to frighten us, but we didn't scare so well 
as they thought. They finally rowed us to the 
ship and as it was dark we felt better on board. 

This was an Austrian Lloyd ship bound for 
Brindisi, Italy, and we were crowded worse than 
on the Russian ship from Alexandria. The first 
night we could get no berth although we paid for 
one. Slept on the floor of the dining room that 
night but the next night they gave us a berth 
and let another take our place on the floor. We 



202 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



fared much better than many others for some had 
not even a blanket while we had a nice little cot. 
At Corfu the ship stopped and took on board 60 
head of horses. We did not see them afterward 
and they did not bother the cabin passengers in 
the least. The Adriatic was smooth and the voy- 
age was fine. 

We reached Brindisi at 6 a. m., and here we ex- 
perienced the first bad weather since leaving Vin- 
ton. It was raining. After getting through the 
custom house we hurried across the city to the rail- 
road station for we wanted to catch the seven 
o'clock train for Home, which was easily accom- 
plished. The ride up the coast of Italy, across the 
Appenines and from Capua along the famous Ap- 
pian Way to Rome was both pleasant and inter- 
esting. It took almost 14 hours and the train 
hardly stopped to allow one to get anything to eat. 
It was almost nine o'clock when Rome was 
reached and we were as hungry as the wolf of his- 
toric fame. 

ROME. 

Rome has been called the "Eternal City," but 
one only need pass through its streets to see there 
is nothing eternal about it. In spite of its many 
ruins it is a most beautiful city — "the Paris of 
Rally." 

We enjoyed a visit to the ruins of the old Forum 
where Mark Antony pronounced his famous ora- 
tion on the death of Caesar ; the Arch of Titus un- 
derneath which no Jew will walk as it testifies to 
the downfall of his nation ; the Tarpeian Rock 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



203 



which took its name from Tarpeia who betrayed 
her people to the Sabiens on condition that they 
would give her what they wore on their right arms 
and instead of the jewels she expected they piled 
upon her their shields, the weight of which crush- 
ed her to death and from the top of this rock the 
Romans afterwards hurled traitors to their death ; 
the temple of Juno where were kept the sacred 
geese whose cackling saved the city. 

Of course we have been through St. Peters, that 
massive building which in size is the greatest of 
all churches and takes $30,000 per year to keep it 
open. While it is beautiful it is no longer useful 
and will soon be a pile of ruins. St. Paul's church, 
which is without the gates of the city, is almost 
as beautiful and nearly as large. The high altar 
in it stands over the spot where the Apostle Paul 
and his companion, Timothy were buried. 

We rode down the famous Appian Way for 
several miles, the main object being a 
visit to the Catacombs. There are great subter- 
ranean tombs and passages cut in the rock and 
they extend over an area of more than 600 acres 
of ground. Through these passages we went down 
four stories under ground and saw where the early 
Christians used to meet for worship and bury 
their dead. In some cases skeletons are yet to be 
seen where they have been lying for nearly 2,600 
years. Many inscription have been found in these 
tombs and it is a remarkable fact that no word 
of hope has been found on the tomb of a pagan. 



204 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



If all these passages that have been explored were 
in a single line it would be almost 600 miles long. 

The other day we went down into the Mamertine 
prison which is undoubtedly the place where the 
Apostle Paul was incarcerated and where he wrote 
the letters to the Colossians, Ephesians, Philip- 
pi ans and Philemon as well as the letter to Tim- 
othy in which he said, "For I am now ready to be 
offered and the time of my departure is at hand. 
I have fought a good fight. I have finished my 
course, I have kept the faith," etc. This prison is 
a small chamber cut in the solid rock and the sole 
opening that time was a circular hole at the top 
like a cistern top. No wonder he wanted the 
' 'cloak" for it is a damp dreary place. 

While we could not in one chapter name the 
places of interest we have visited in this city yet 
we must mention the greatest ruin in the world to- 
day, viz., the Coliseum. When we saw the Acropo- 
lis at Athens we said here is certainly the greatest 
ruin of antiquity, but we knew not what we were 
saying. The Coliseum is the most gigantic ruin in 
the world, we are told. It is a circular building, 
160 feet high and covers 6 acres of ground. The 
arena is about 280x160 feet and was so arranged 
that it could be flooded so that naval battles could 
take place. It would accommodate 100,000 spec- 
tators and people were admitted by ivory checks, 
one of which that has been dug up reads, "Sec- 
tion 6, Lowest tier, Seat No. 18." The Emperor 
Titus opened it with a grand carnival that lasted 
100 days and during which 9,000 beasts were 



LANDS OF SACRED STORY. 



205 



slain and 3,000 gladiators took part. The sides of 
the arena were 11 feet high and a special place 
was prepared for the emperor and royal family. 
The gladiators would march by and say, "We are 
about to die to salute you." Here for hundreds 
of years gladiators and animals lost their lives by 
thousands. The same arena has been soaked by 
the blood of hundreds of martyrs of the cross. 
Trojan alone slaughtered 270 Christians here by 
piercing them with arrows and scores were torn 
to pieces by wild beasts, thus dying for their faith. 
One day a Roman victory was being celebrated 
and 100,000 people were gazing at two gladiators 
stabbing each other when a moriK leaped over 
the railing and ran between the contestants and 
broke up the fight which so enraged the specta- 
tors that they killed the monk on the spot. After 
the people came to their senses and realized what 
they had done, they so deplored the death of this 
brave Christian hero that they abolished gladi- 
atorial contests as far as human life was con- 
cerned, so while Talemacheus lost his life, he 
saved a multitude of others. 

From Rome we visited again Naples, Pompeii, 
Palermo, Algiers, Gibraltar and sailed for New 
York on a great Cunard liner. 



1910 



One copy del. to Oat. Div. 



